UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




4 



r 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM ; 



OR THE 

REPUBLICANISM, LIBERALITY, AND CATHOLICITY 

OF 

PRESBYTERY, 

IN CONTRAST WITH 

PRELACY AND POPERY. 




BY THOMAS SMYTH, 

AUTHOE OF LECTURES ON THE APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION ; PRESBYTERY AND 
NOT PRELACY THE SCRIPTURAL A1s!D PRIMITIVE POLITY ; 
ECCLESIASTICAL CATECHISM, ETO. 




PUBLISHED: 

BOSTON, CROCKER AND BREWSTER ] NEW YORK, ROBERT CARTER, JONATHAN 
LEAVITT, AND WILE? AND PUTNAM J PHILADELPHIA, J. WHETHAM AND 
SON, WILLIAM S. MARTIEN, AND PERKINS AND PURVE8 ; CINCINNATI, 
WEED AND WILSON; PITTSBURGH, THOMAS CARTER \ CHARLESTON, 
S. HART, SEN., AND M; CARTER AND ALLEN J 
LONDON, WILEY AND PUTNAM. 



1843. 



0,0 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Forty-Three, by 

CROCIER & BREWSTER, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 



S. N. DICKINSON, PRINTER, 
No. 52 Washington Street. 



TO THE 



HONORABLE MITCHELL KING, 



Or CHARLESTON, S. C. 



THIS WORK, 



VINDICATION OF THE CHURCH OF HIS FATHERS, 



IS RESPECTFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED, 
BY 

THE AUTHOR. 



PREFACE. 



The following work may require some explanation 
and some apology. The author has been for some 
years engaged in a careful examination of the subject 
of church government, especially in reference to the 
claims of prelacy to an exclusive possession of the 
rights, privileges, and immunities of the church of 
Christ. He was thus led to publish his ' Lectures on 
the Prelatical Doctrine of Apostolical Succession, or 
the Protestant Ministry Defended against the Exclusive 
Assumptions of Popery and High-Churchism,' in 1841. 
This work he followed up, according to his original 
design, by his recent volume, just issued from the 
press, ' Presbytery and not Prelacy the Scriptural and 
Primitive Polity, proved from the Testimonies of Scrip- 
ture ; the Fathers ; the Schoolmen ; the Reformers ; 
and the English and Oriental Churches. Also, the 
Antiquity of Presbytery; including an Account of the 
Ancient Culdees, and of St. Patrick.' In pursuing the 
investigations necessary to complete these works, the 
1* 



vi 



author was led to discover the determined claim, pre 
ferred by the prelatic and Romish churches, to a greater 
conformity, in spirit and in order, to our republican 
institutions than any other denominations, as well as to a 
greater liberality, and an exclusive catholicity. He was 
therefore induced to comprehend in the plan of the above 
work, a discussion of these questions, and to examine 
into the comparative adaptation of the difTcrent ecclesi- 
astical systems to the system of our republican govern- 
ment, and their relative claims to the character of true 
liberality and catholicity. The following chapters were 
therefore embodied as a part of the third book of the 
above work, where they are found in the analysis of it, 
which was published in the Charleston Observer. It 
was discovered, however, that this work was sufficiently 
extensive without these chapters, and as they were not 
necessary to the unity of the argument, the author was 
induced, by the advice of judicious friends, to publish 
them in a separate form. 

Such, then, is the nature and design of the present 
volume, and such the apology which the author offers, 
for again presenting himself before the public. The 
subjects embraced in it are believed to be deeply 
important to the civil and religious interests of this 
country. They commend themselves to every patriot 
as matters of great practical and present concern, 
which must, ere long, demand the earnest con- 
sideration of every reflecting mind. They are not 



vii 



theoretical speculations. They contain principles which 
lie at the foundation of human conduct, and which 
come * home to the business and bosoms of men.' 
There are those who think otherwise, and who consider 
the great questions which divide religious denomina- 
tions as mere logomachies. Any alleged connection 
between the systems of ecclesiastical and civil govern- 
ment they regard as a mere visionary dream, conclud- 
ing, that because politically distinct and separate, their 
moral and intellectual relations are equally independent. 
To such minds, the author presents the considerations 
offered in the following work, and asks for them a 
candid and impartial hearing. 

Greatly would he rejoice could he have moderated 
the views which he is constrained to take of the dan- 
gerous character and tendencies of popery, and its 
kindred system, high-churchism. Tender associations 
bind him to many individuals in both these sects. 
Among them may be found many, distinguished by 
every quality that can give personal distinction, and 
attract the love and admiration of all who know them. 
It is, therefore, truly painful to the author, to be im- 
pelled as he is, by an irresistible call of duty, to utter 
his free thoughts concerning the religious systems to 
which such men are attached. Every day's experience 
and research, however, only confirm and strengthen 
the convictions formed by education. But it is with 
the systems, and not with their abettors, the author is at 



viii 



war. To their own master these stand or fall, and by 
Him alone are they to be judged. While contending, 
therefore, earnestly for the truth, he would desire to 
cultivate towards all men that charity 'which is the 
bond of perfectness, and which hopeth all things.' 

He will only add, that he uses the term presbytery 
in its generic sense, as equally applicable to all non- 
episcopal churches, and that the great portion of the 
present volume will be found based on those generic 
principles, by which they are all distinguished from 
prelatic churches. Such being his general design, the 
author will be borne with, in those illustrations which 
are drawn from his own denomination, and those 
arguments which are presented in vindication of its 
character. 



Charleston, S. C, 1843. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER FIRST. 

THE PRINCIPLES OF REPUBLICANISM EXPLAINED, AND SHOWN 
TO EXIST IN THE JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. 

Page 



Sec. I. Preliminary remarks, 13 

II. The principles of republicanism, 23 

III. The principles of republicanism found in the Jewish 

Church, 31 

IV. The principles of republicanism fully developed in 

the Christian Church, 35 



CHAPTER SECOND. 

PRESBYTERY REPUBLICAN BOTH IN ITS DOCTRINAL AND 
ECCLESIASTICAL SYSTEMS. 



Sec. I. What denominations are included under the term 

Presbytery, in the present argument, 52 

II. Presbytery republican in its doctrines, .... 54 

III. The framers of our ecclesiastical system designed that 

it should neither be a monarchy, nor a democracy, 
but a republic, 61 

IV. All the principles of republicanism are found in our 

Presbyterian system, 65 

V. Presbytery is republican in its doctrine of the ministry, 67 
VI. Presbytery is republican in its doctrine of ordination. 

Objections answered, 73 



X 



Page 

VII. Presbytery eminently republican in its office of ruling 

elders. Objections answered, 75 

VIII. Presbytery eminently republican, also ; in its various 

ecclesiastical judicatories, 79 

IX. Presbytery republican in several other particulars, 

with testimonies in its favor, 85 

X. Presbytery republican in its creeds ; in its protection 
of minorities ; in the framing of its laws ; in its 
universal suffrage ; and in its simplicity and oppo- 
sition to all unnecessary forms, 88 

XI. Presbytery eminently republican in having originated 
and secured in this country, the separation of 
religion from politics, and of the Church from the 
State, 94 

CHAPTER THIRD. 

THE REPUBLICANISM OF PRESBYTERY ATTESTED BY HISTORY. 

Sec. 1 104 

II. The form of government among the Waldenses, who 

have always been thorough Presbyterians, was as 
purely republican, 105 

III. The republicanism of Presbytery fully developed by 

the reformation, 108 

IV. The republicanism of Presbytery illustrated from its 

history in modern times in England, . . . . 127 
V. The republicanism of Presbytery demonstrated from 

its history in these United States, 138 

CHAPTER FOURTH. 

PRESBYTERY MORE REPUBLICAN THAN OTHER FORMS OF 
CHRISTIAN POLITY. 

Sec. I. The system of Presbytery more republican than the 

polity of the Methodist Episcopal Church, . . . 1 48 
II. Presbytery more republican than the Protestant Epis- 
copal Church, 153 

III. The anti-republicanism of High-Churchism, . . .172 

IV. The anti-republican character of Popery, . . . 181 



xi 



CHAPTER FIFTH. 

THE LIBERALITY OF PRESBYTERY. 

Page 

Sec. I. True liberality, as distinguished from bigotry and 

latitudinarianism, explained, 202 

II. The liberality of the Presbyterian Church, in her 
general principles as to the nature of the Christian 
Church, 215 

III. The liberality of the Presbyterian Church, in her 

doctrine of the sacraments, 224 

IV. The liberality of the Presbyterian Church, in her 

doctrine of ordination, 227 

V. The obj ection founded upon the persecuting principles 

and conduct of Presbyterians, answered, . . .231 
VI. The Presbyterian Church is at once liberal and 

orthodox, . 239 

VII. Testimonies in proof of the liberality of Presbytery, 242 
VIII. The illiberal character of Romish and Anglican 

Prelacy, 254 



CHAPTER SIXTH. 

THE CATHOLICITY OF PRESBYTERY. 

Sec. L The catholicity of Presbytery in its ecclesiastical 

system, in contrast with Popery and Prelacy, . 271 
II. The catholicity of Presbytery, in its doctrinal system, 

in contrast with Popery and Prelacy, .... 287 

CHAPTER SEVENTH. 
the security, safety, and efficiency of presbytery, 295 

Conclusion, 303 

Appendix , 309 

Notes, , . , 317 

Index, . . , . , 319 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE PRINCIPLES OF REPUBLICANISM EXPLAINED, AND SHOWN 
TO EXIST IN THE JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. 



SECTION I. 

Preliminary remarks. 

The subject to which the attention of our readers is 
invited, is the republicanism of those ecclesiastical sys- 
tems, which come under the denomination of presbytery, 
as opposed to prelacy. All denominations who agree in 
holding to one order of ministers are ])i'oper\y presbyterian, 
and are, therefore, included under the term presbytery. And 
the question before us, is, whether there is any connection 
between ecclesiastical and civil governments, so as that 
the former, according to their nature, will exert a corres- 
ponding influence upon the latter ; and if they do, whether 
the forms of ecclesiastical government, included under the 
term presbytery, are more congenial to republicanism, and 
promotive of it, than either prelacy or popery. 

In entering upon this discussion, we wish it to be most 
explicitly understood, that we do not identify Christianity, 
or the christian church, with any form of civil govern- 
ment. On the contrary, it is one of the fundamental 
principles of presbyterian faith, that the kingdom of 
Christ while in this world is not of it, but is entirely sepa- 
2 



14 ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 

rate and distinct in its nature, objects, subjects, and end. 
The church is a society of a select and sacred nature, 
which stands in intimate relation to Christ, from whom, 
it receives special and continual direction, superintend- 
ence, and grace ; having its existence by the will of 
Christ, its Head; having a power of self-government, 
inherent in it by divine right ; and being thus authorized 
to form regularly constituted societies for spiritual pur- 
poses, to meet in churches and ecclesiastical courts, to 
celebrate ordinances, to admit to these spiritual privileges 
on terms prescribed by Christ, or to exclude from them 
such as violate these terms ; and, generally, to govern and 
direct the affairs of the christian societies, for the glory 
of God, and the edification of the household of faith. It 
will be thus seen, that, on our interpretation of the 
scriptures, Christianity is entirely independent of civil 
government, and different from it in its ministry, in its 
motives, in its instrumentality, in its practice, in its teach- 
ing, in its officers, in its laws, in its authority, and in its 
sanctions. It has to do with the men of the world, merely 
that it may best prepare them for the world which is to 
come ; while, in all things that regard this present life, 
and the civil rights and temporal interests of men, it leaves 
them to be guided and controlled by that civil govern- 
ment, which may be established over them, or by them. 
True Christianity is the only religion which draws a prop- 
er distinction between the things of God, and the things of 
Caesar, earnestly inculcating submission to civil authori- 
ty in all lawful respects, and that not from inferior but the 
highest motives. It gives far more sacred and exalted 
views of civil government, than any other religion. It 
represents it not as the contrivance of human wisdom, 
but as the ordinance of Heaven ; to be obeyed not from 
the fear of punishment, but for the sake of conscience. 
' Render unto Csesar the things that are Caesar's, and 
unto God the things that are God's.' ' Render unto all 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



15 



their due : tribute to whom tribute is due ; custom to 
whom custom ; fear to whom fear ; honor to whom honor.' 
' Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the 
Lord's sake.' ' You must needs be subject, not only for 
wrath, but also for conscience sake.' &c. Never, says 
Whateley, was the christian required to do less than to 
conform to such principles ; never will he be called on to 
do more. 

On this subject, the teaching of our church is as beau- 
ful as it is scriptural* ' God, the supreme Lord and King 
of all the world, hath ordained civil magistrates to be 
under him, over the people for his own glory, and the 
public good; and to this end, hath armed them with the 
power of the sword, for the defence and encouragement 
of them that are good, and for the punishment of evil 
doers. It is the duty of the people to pray for magis- 
trates, to honor their persons, to pay them tribute and other 
dues, to obey their lawful commands, and to be subject 
to their authority, for conscience sake. Infidelity, or 
indifference in religion, doth not make void the magis- 
trate's just and legal authority, nor free the people from 
their due obedience to him ; from which ecclesiastical 
persons are not exempted ; much less hath the pope any 
power or jurisdiction over them in their dominions, or 
over any of their people ; and, least of all, to deprive 
them of their dominions or lives, if he shall judge them 
to be heretics, or upon any pretence whatsoever.' 

It follows, therefore, that Christianity may and does 
coexist with any form of civil government, and that chris- 
tians may be loyal citizens of such a government, and 
conscientiously uphold and promote its interests, whether 

* Nowhere has the distinction between the civil and ecclesiastical 
power been better explained than in Conf. of Faith, ch. xxiii. 
of the Civil Magistrate, in the Second Book of Discipline of the Scotch 
Church, and in the celebrated cxi. Propositions concerning the Min- 
istry and Govt, of the Ch. presented to the Genl. Assembly, and 
printed, Edinb. 1647, 4to. 



16 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



it be a monarchy, an aristocracy, or a republic, so far 
forth as it does not conflict with their duties to God* 
We do not, therefore, teach, that because presbyterianism, 
as an ecclesiastical system, is republican in its character 
and most perfectly harmonizes with republican institu- 
tions, that presbyterians are less faithful, loyal, or true, as 
subjects of any other form of civil government, than are 
the members of any other church. 

It is no part of our intention to authenticate, as of di- 
vine right, the republican form of civil government, or to 
allege that this form alone can characterize the ecclesias- 
tical government of a true church. On the contrary, 
while we believe human government to be an ordinance 
of God, its particular character is, we think, left to the 
determination of human reason, under the control of 
whatever light God has given it in his word and provi- 
dence. And in conformity with this arrangement, the 
ecclesiastical government of the church has been so 
moulded by its divine head, as to be capable of admin- 
istration under every mode of government, from the abso- 
lutism of a despotic monarchy, to the untrammelled lib- 
erty of democratic freedom. 

We do not, therefore, design to cast any shadow of 
dark imputation upon the character of church members 
in other countries and ages, and under other governments 
than our own happy republic ; nor to bring their loyalty 
and true-hearted allegiance into question. As it regards 
the presbyterians of Britain, there never have existed a 
more loyal and devoted race of subjects, nor one more 
patriotic and true to the best interests of their country.! 

* See on this point Christ. Indep. of Civil Govt. ; Brooke's Hist, of 
Relig. Lib. vol. i. pp. 4, 6 ; Lectures on the Headship of Christ, Glasg. 
1S40. &C.&C. 

t The confessions of faith of all protestant churches, which were 
drawn up not by moderates but by evangelical men, teach the same. 
Accordingly, christians, who have been reviled as rebels, have uni- 
formly proved the most enlightened friends of loyalty, and have been 
most useful in seasons of national danger. The christians of apos- 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM, 



17 



But assuming that the republican form of civil govern- 
ment, as it exists in this country, is best adapted to secure 
the greatest amount of personal liberty, social enjoyment, 
and political prosperity ; and that it most fully embodies 
and exhibits the spirit of liberty ; our inquiry shall be, 
whether, and how far, the presbyterian form of church 
polity is analogous to our civil constitution ; whether the 
genius of presbytery and of republicanism are found to be 
in strict alliance ; and whether, in this respect, our form of 
ecclesiastical polity does not eminently commend itself 
to the admiration and regard of every American citizen, 
to ivTiatever religious denomination he may belong. It 
will be our object, therefore, to make it appear, that the 
platform of the Bible, while limited to principles so gen- 
eral as to accommodate it to any order of civil institu- 
tions, is yet pregnant with the spirit of liberty ; and, when 
allowed its full development, illustriously displays its 
essential affinity to whatever is most promotive of human 
happiness and the liberty of mankind ; and that the 
presbyterian form of ecclesiastical polity most readily 
adjusts itself to republicanism, and is free from any thing 
which might justly excite jealousy, distrust, or apprehen- 

tolic and primitive times were distinguished for their loyalty. Proofs 
to the same effect might be quoted from the history of the protestant 
churches of France, and Piedmont, and America. Louis XIV. re- 
peatedly testified to the loyalty of his protestant and evangelical 
subjects, declaring that they had given proof ' of their fidelity and 
zeal for his service beyond all that can be imagined, and contributed 
in all things to the welfare and advantage of his affairs.' The Duke 
of Savoy himself gladly acknowledged the loyalty of the Vaudois as 
quite remarkable. The eminent loyalty and fidelity of presbyterians 
in contrast with the disloyalty of prelates, has been demonstrated 
from the facts of English and Irish history, by almost all the old 
writers. See Prynne's Antipathy of the English Lordly Prelacy both 
to Regal Monarchy and Civil Unity, &c. Lond. 1641, 2 vols. 4to. 
Milton's Reason of Ch. Govt, in Works, vol. i. p. 29, &c. Lord 
Brooke -on Episcopacy, ch. vii. and ix. p. 38. Jameson's Funda- 
mentals of the Hierarchy, part i. § 2, pp. 5 and 17. Baxter on Episco- 
pacy. Calamy's Defence. Pierce's Defence, &c. &c See also 
Lorimer's Manual of Presbytery, ch. v. p. 207, &c. Campbell's Vindi- 
cation of the Principles and Character of Presbyt. Ch. in Ireland. 
Lond. 1787, third ed. and Plea for Presbytery. 

2* 



18 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



sion on the part of the governing authorities of the land, 
or of a justly watchful people. 

Neither is it any part of our design to criminate other 
denominations, or to hold up what is distinctively called 
the presbyterian church, as the only one that is analo- 
gous to that form of republican government under which 
we live, much less to imply that others are hostile to 
'the powers that be.' On the contrary, we rejoice in 
believing, that, to a great extent, there is a harmony of 
spirit and of order between the ecclesiastical system of 
our various christian denominations, and those of the 
civil commonwealth, and that the members of all desire 
to emulate the highest attainments in patriotic devotion 
to the interests of our country. But in the strength of 
this analogy, as exhibited in different churches, we be- 
lieve there is a great diversity, some being more repub- 
licanized than others. The degree of approximation to a 
republic, found in the numerous leading forms of eccle- 
siastical polity, we shall have occasion to point out ; and 
while we believe that any form of church government 
will consist with any form of civil government, which 
does not, by any of its principles, interfere with the 
authority of that government in civil matters,* fidelity 
will require us to point out the dangerous character of 
popery, which binds all its members in subjection to a 
foreign potentate, and to a despotic hierarchy. 

To such a comparison we are urged by the zeal with 
which all denominations are pressing their claims to a 
republican character, upon the attention of a people, to 
whom such a recommendation justly gives a most hearty 
welcome. ' We have repeatedly,' says the New Eng- 
land Puritan, ' recorded our conviction, that Congrega- 
tionalism is not only more in harmony with the teachings 
of the New Testament than any other system of eccle- 



* Brooke on Episcop. pp. 39, 40, 47, 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



19 



siastical polity, bat also more purely democratic than any 
other. We. of course, use the term 'democratic' in its 
original signification, and not as descriptive of the tenets 
of any political party.' Similar, and as exclusive claims 
are made, by the baptist denominations. The unita- 
rians, who are also congregationalists, make their devo- 
tion to the interests of civil liberty a fundamental article 
in their popular creed. The protestant methodist church 
has separated from the episcopal body on this very 
ground, that it was in its polity anti-republican, and 
opposed to the just rights of a large portion of the clergy, 
and the whole of the laity.* The methodist episcopal 
church, however, is not bashful in proclaiming 'the 
republicanism of methodist polity.'! The episcopal 
church is also heard proclaiming aloud her merits as the 
most purely republican of all republics.:]: Nay, even the 
Romish church, not satisfied with her infallibility, and 
other unapproachable excellences, sets all her rivals at 
defiance, by the assertion, that her system ' is most favor- 
able to equality of conditions. '§ 

It is, therefore, a time for presbyterians to speak, and 
not be silent. We say, ' audi alteram partem.' We also 
would give our reasons for the hope that is in us, that, 
when weighed in the balances against all others, we shall 

*See Questions and Answers explanatory of the Government of this 
Church. Charleston, 1837. The History and Mystery of Methodist 
Episcopacy, by Alexander M'Carne. Bait. 1827. Also his Defence, 
&c. Bait. 1629. 

t See recent articles in the Christ. Advoc. and Journal, and several 
also in the Southern Christian Advocate. 

% Bishop "White, in his Memoirs of the Episcopal Church in this 
country, declares, ' that episcopacy, as now settled in America, must 
be confessed at least as analogous as presbytery — the author thinks 
more so — to the plan of civil government which mature deliberation 
has established over the union.' Mem. of Prot. Ep. Ch. p. 55. But 
perhaps bishop White was not the best judge of such an analogy, 
since he openly states, that 'in consequence of an impartial com- 
parison,' he prefers the laws and the manners of the British nation to 
those of any other. Ibid, p. 57. See also the Comprehensive Church, 
by Rev. Thomas H. Vail, Hartford, 1841. 

§ Tocqueville's Democracy in America, vol. i. pp. 328, 329 and 332. 



'20 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



not be found wanting. And what we speak, we speak 
as unto wise men, judge ye what we say. 

Neither is any one justified in supposing, that this is a 
useless question, or one which leads to no practical 
results. We believe and affirm the contrary. As well 
might it be said that the forms of civil government have 
no practical influence upon the manners, morals, and 
habits of a people, as that different ecclesiastical systems 
will not exercise a similar influence, f Every religion,' 
says Tocqueville/* ' is to be found in juxtaposition to a 
political opinion, which is connected with it by affinity. 
If the human mind be left to follow its own bent, it will 
regulate the temporal and spiritual institutions of society 
upon one uniform principle, and man will endeavor, if I 
may use the expression, to harmonize the state in which 
he lives upon earth with the state he believes to await 
him in heaven.' 

' Who,' asks Dr. McCrie,t * that has duly reflected on 
the subject, can be ignorant that forms of government 
exert a mighty influence, both directly and indirectly, on 
the manners, and habits, and sentiments of the people 
who live under them ; and that some of these forms are 
unspeakably preferable to others ? That they are better 
adapted to impose a check on ambitious or corrupt rulers 
— prevent or correct the abuses of maladministration — 
provide for the impartial distribution of justice — preserve 
the spirit and perpetuate the enjoyment of liberty — pro- 
mote education, virtue, and religion ; and, in fine, to secure 
to the people at large all that happiness which it is the 
original and proper design of government to procure and 
bestow. These remarks apply with greater force to ec- 
clesiastical than to political government. The advance- 

* Ibid, p. 328. See also p. 334. See this also illustrated in ' Fo- 
reign Conspiracy against the Liberties of the United States,' p. 34, 
and note B. 

t Life of Melville, vol. ii. p. 470. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



21 



ment of the interests of religion, the preservation of purity, 
of faith and morals, the regular dispensing of religious 
instruction and of all divine ordinances, and, in general, 
the promoting of the spiritual improvement and salvation 
of the people, have always depended, and must always 
depend, in a high degree, on the form of government 
established in a church, and on the rules by which disci- 
pline is exercised in it.' 

It is on these grounds we attach importance to the 
present inquiry. God forbid, that we should pursue it 
with any sinister or political ends. But the ecclesiastical 
system of the presbyterian church, we conscientiously 
believe to be eminently adapted to advance these glo- 
rious objects. Although it takes no direct part in the 
government of society, it must nevertheless be regarded 
as the foremost of the political institutions of this country; 
for if it does not impart a taste for freedom, it facilitates 
the use of free institutions.* To it Scotland has been 
indebted for other blessings besides the efficient support 
of the gospel, of a collateral kind, and of the highest im- 
portance. To it she owes that system of education 
which has extended its blessings to the lowest class in 
the community. To it she owes the intelligence, sobriety, 
and religious principle which distinguish her commonality 
from those of other countries. To it she owed a simple, 
unambitious, laborious, and at the same time independent 
order of ministers. And to it she was indebted for that 
public spirit which has resisted manifold disadvantages 
in her political and religious institutions ; disadvantages, 
which otherwise must have reduced her to a state of 
slavery, and made her the instrument of enslaving the 
nation with which she became allied by the union of the 
crowns, f 

We have only one other preliminary observation to 



* Tocqueville, i. 334. 



t Life of Melville, ii. 471. 



22 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



offer. When we affirm that presbyterianism, as the form 
of ecclesiastical government prescribed in the New Tes- 
tament, is republican, we contemplate the church in its 
mundane or visible administration. We inquire not 
from whom is the authority to govern derived, but to 
whom on earth is this authority delegated. Considered 
in reference to its totality, and to Christ its head, the 
government of the church is an absolute monarchy. 
Christ is head over all things to the church ; and hence, 
is it one and universal, under Him as its Sovereign.^ 
The question, therefore, now before us, does not affect 
the church, in itself considered — in its complete devel- 
opment — in its universal extent — and in its relation to 
heaven as well as to earth. In this view, as are re- 
publics themselves, it is a theocracy, a divine spiritual 
monarchy, of which Christ alone is Head, Lawgiver, and 
King. But the question is, what is the character of that 
delegated government, intrusted by the King of Zion to 
his ministers and people here on earth? what is the 
character of that administration under which the visible 
church is placed, in this sphere or province of Christ's 
dominion, and in subordination to his celestial royalty ? 
The relation between the ruling part and the ruled, in 
any community, constitutes the character of its govern- 
ment. Viewed, therefore, as subject to Christ, the 
christian church is a monarchy, just as the Jewish was 
in its relation to God. But, considered as governed by 
the laws of Christ, and the representative officers au- 
thorized by Him, it is, as we shall endeavor to prove, 
just like the Hebrew commonwealth, a republic! 

* Ephes. 4:15; 1 : 22 ; Col. 1:18; 2:19; Eph. 5 : 23 ; Col. 3:15; 
Rom. 12 : 4, 5 ; 1 Cor. 10 : 17 ; Eph. 2 : 16. 

t This is an old and useful distinction. In 1 Syon's Royal Preroga- 
tive,' Amsterd. 1642, p. 31, we find, that Peter Martyr, in his com- 
mon places, making the church a monarchy, in respect of Christ, 
an aristocracy in respect of the elders ; addeth, also, that because 
there are matters of great weight and importance referred unto the 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



23 



SECTION II. 

The principles of republicanism. 

All forms of government are reducible to five; the des- 
potic, the monarchical, the aristocratic, the republican, 
and the democratic. A despotic government is that in 
which a single person directs every thing by his own 
will. A monarchy is that in which a single person 
governs by fixed and established laws. An aristocracy 
is formed when the supreme power is vested in the 
hands of a small number of the people, who constitute a 
nobility. A republic is that government in which the 
people, under certain restrictions, are possessed of the 
supreme power ; and a democracy is that in which the 
supreme power is possessed and exercised by the whole 
body of the people. # 

Montesquieu includes under the name of republic, the 
aristocratic, the republican, and the democratic forms of 
government! 

The term republic includes, according to Brougham, 
aristocracies, in distinction from oligarchies ; aristocracy 
being the government of the best or highest classes, that 
is, of those who are intrusted with authority, because 
deemed best qualified to use it.$ But this cannot refer 
to a permanent or hereditary aristocracy, which is com- 
posed of a certain number of citizens stationed above the 
mass, than which nothing can be more contrary to nature, 
and the secret propensities of the human heart, h 

The clearest definition, however, is that given by our 
own Webster. He says a republic is a commonwealth ; 

people, as excommunication, absolution, choosing of ministers, and 
the like ; it hath also a consideration of a popular government. Of 
the same judgment was Junius. 

* See Montesquieu's Spirit of Laws, b. ii. chap. 1. 

t Ibid, chap. ii. 

% Polit. Phil. p. 73. 

\ Tocqueville, i. 456. 



24 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



a state in which the exercise of the sovereign power is 
lodged in representatives elected by the people. In 
modern usage, it differs from a democracy, or democratic 
state, in which the people exercise the powers of sover- 
eignty in person.' 

The government of the United States, is not, there- 
fore, a democracy,* but a republic, in which the people 
exercise the supreme power ; not directly, but by means of 
a president, a senate, and a house of representatives, who 
are all elective, and a judiciary body. The supreme 
power resides ultimately in the people, but it is exercised 
immediately by representatives chosen by the people, 
responsible to them, and limited in their official acts by 
the constitution. The government of the United States 
is, therefore, a pure republic, but it is not a democracy, 
since the people do not conduct its administration as 
in the ancient democracies, by meeting together en masse. 
Practically, it is a republican aristocracy, the government 
being conducted by a part of the people, elevated by 
themselves to the temporary dignity of office, and return- 
ing, when their term of office expires, to the common rank 
of ordinary citizens. It may, therefore, be as truly denom- 
inated an aristocracy, as a democracy. It is, in truth 
neither. It is a compound of both — a new creation — a 
mixed government, combining the advantages of all 
others. But it least resembles txpure democracy, which, 
after all, is an Utopian dream, never yet realized, either 
in Greece or Rome, or in any modern republic! Such a 
government, we may safely say, could not exist* It 

* Tocqueville evidently uses democracy as synonymous with 
republic 5 but in denning terms they must be distinguished. 

t Brougham's Polit. Phil. pp. 92, 93. ' Neither our state or confeder- 
ate governments, can,' says the Hon. John Quincy Adams, ' without a 
gross and fraudulent perversion of language, be denominated a democ- 
racy.' Lect. at Providence, Nov. 1842, in Eddy's Christian Citi- 
zen, p. 14. 

X Tocqueville, i. 157,159-162, 165. Locke on Govt. ch. vii. § 89 
and 94. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 25' 

was only while they practically carried out the principles 
of representation and delegated power, the ancient repub- 
lics of Greece and Rome prospered. In all cases when 
the democracy, which is mobocracy, was triumphant, anar- 
chy, bloodshed, civil war, defeat, and ruin, were the disas- 
trous consequences* Regular government was no longer- 
regarded as a benefit, but as an evil, to be endured only 
up to that point which the majority, goaded on by the 
demagogue, believed to be necessary. A multitude not 
reduced to unity, by delegated power, is confusion, and 
invariably leads to that unity which is independent of the 
multitude, that is, to despotism.! But great as is this lat- 
ter evil, it is not so desperate as the other, since there is 
no tyranny so capricious, lawless, and cruel, as that of 
the mob. Nor can any one read the history of its doings 
in ancient times without devoutly praying, from such 
a government, good Lord, deliver us.$ In the state of 
freedom, that is, in a republic, man is governed by the 
laws to which he has given his consent, either in person, 
or by his representatives ; but in a pure democracy, he is 
governed by the unrestrained will of others. § With 
republic on their tongues, the members of & pure democ- 
racy are despotical in practice, and approve their charac- 
ter to be, ' that fierce democracy.' 

That system of government is best, which secures the 
most perfect laws, the most beneficial administration of 
the laws made, and the most advantageous use of the 
resources of society for the great purposes of government 
and defence, and the promotion of the happiness of the 

* See this illustrated in Dr. Bisset's interesting work, c Sketch of 
Democracy,' Lond. 1796. He does not, however, distinguish between 
democracy and republic. Also Dr. Vaughan's Congregationalism, 
Lond. 1842, p. 45, &c. Absolute equality led to all the horrors of the' 
Anabaptists and of the Jacobins in France. Villers on Ref. p. 113. 
See also Locke on Govt. ch. vii. § 89, Wks. vol. ii. pp. 251, § 94. 

t Pascal's Thoughts, Art. cxiv. p. 288. 

% See its evils depicted by Tocqueville, i. 2S1, 286. 

\ See the Hamilton Papers, vol. i. p. 12. 

3 



26 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



whole community. But a republic does all this, since it 
gives security against abuse, against internal shocks, 
and against foreign aggression, by making the resources 
of society easily available.* 

What, then, are the essential principles of our repub- 
lican form of government ? In reply, we remark, that 
there are some principles essential to the system, and 
by which it is characterized, which may be called the 
primary, or fundamental laws of republicanism. Other 
principles, again, are equally essential, though not pecu- 
liar to it, more than than to any other well ordered commu- 
nity; which maybe termed the secondary laws of repub- 
licanism. Among these, may be mentioned virtue, by 
which, as Montesquieu says, it is supported, educa- 
tion, intelligence, sobriety, and public spirit. 

Among the primary or fundamental laws, which char- 
acterize our American republic, may be named the fol- 
lowing. 

The equality of conditions, is, according to De Tocque- 
ville, the fundamental principle from which all our other 
institutions flow.f By this is to be understood : 1. That 
all are by birth equally eligible to any office, for which 
they are deemed fit. 2. That the laws are made equally 
by all, acting through their representatives. 3. That 
none are elevated to any station in which they can act, or 
legislate, independently of the people. $ 4. That no arti- 
ficial obstacles exist in the way of a man's becoming the 
richest, or most learned in the state, every man being at 
liberty — with no other impediments, than such as the com- 
mon obstacles of human nature, and the equal rights of his 
neighbor, impose — to strive after wealth, honor, and hap- 
piness. And, 5. That no hereditary ranks are recognised, 

* Brougham's Polit. Phil. p. 60. 

t Tocqueville, i. Introd. p. 1. Algernon Sydney's Disc, on Govt, 
ch 1, § 2, and ch: 2, § 31. Foi. Lond. 1751, third ed. 
} Ibid, p. 7. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



27 



so that any honor conferred on any man, by any office 
given by the people, though it elevates his rank, and may 
reflect honor on his posterity, cannot descend to them. 
Responsibility to the people, is, therefore, a fundamental 
principle of republicanism ; a responsibility which gives 
the most insignificant contributor of his money towards 
any object, a right to examine into the manner in which 
it is disbursed* 

The power of the people, claimed by them as derived 
from the laws of nature, and not as the gift of any earthly 
power, is, therefore, a foundation principle of republican- 
ism.! ' While those bodies are in existence, to whom 
the people have delegated the powers of legislation, they 
alone possess, and may exercise those powers. But, 
when they are dissolved, by the lopping off of one or 
more of their branches, the power reverts to the people, 
who may use it to an unlimited extent, either assembling 
together in person, sending deputies, or in any other way 
they may think proper.' 

The right and duty of private judgment, liberty of con- 
science, liberty of opinion, and liberty of the press, are 
also among those fundamental maxims upon which all re- 
publicanism is, and must be, founded ; and without which, 
it is a political heresy, and cannot possibly be carried on.$ 

It follows from these principles, that in our republic, 
every man is left to worship God according to the dic- 
tates of his own conscience ; that the church is separated 
from the state ; that all religions are equally protected by 

*The great rule of all free institutions, that the people alone shall 
lay taxes — a vital principle of all constitutional government — an 
essential guaranty of all safe public administration — has become 
involved, is at stake ; that solemn canon of republican creeds — that 
high fundamental law — no, sir, not a law, the mere part of a code, or 
a constitution ; it is itself a constitution ; for, give but that, and a real 
constitution must follow ; take it away, and there is an end of all 
practical freedom. Mr. Archer's Speech in Congress, Aug. 1, 1842. 
See Locke on Govt. ch. vii. § 94. Wks. vol. ii. p. 254. 

t Jefferson's Wks. vol. i. p. 113, 115. ' The God who gave us life, 
gave us liberty at the same time,' p. 116. 

JTocqueville, i. 453, 466, and ii. 23, &c. 



26 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



the state, while none are patronized ; and that toleration 
is, therefore, a doctrine indignantly rejected, as implying 
a power to sit in judgment upon religious creeds, and 
practically to endure what is theoretically condemned.* 

It is, further, the very essence of republican govern- 
ment, that it lies ultimately, and absolutely, in the majori- 
ty.! Not that the minority are subject to their will, or that 
any majority remains, for any time, the same ; the consti- 
tution throwing its segis around the minority, and time 
changing it altogether. $ 

It is also a fundamental principle of our free govern- 
ment, that every man, of what quality or condition so- 
ever, ought to be equally subject to the laws, and either 
obey them, or suffer the penalties ordained for the trans- 
gressors. § 

The extension of the right of suffrage as far as pos- 
sible, that is, as far as will consist with a due regard to 

* See Christ. Indep. of the Civil Govt. pp. 148-150. Upon this 
rock is built the fabric of religious liberty, 
t Tocqueville, i. p. 275. 

tMr. Preston followed, in an animated reply to Mr. Clay, oppos- 
ing entirely his doctrine as to the veto power. The proposed 
abolition or modification of that power would, he argued, be an in- 
fraction of the compromises of the constitution. He disputed Mr. 
Clay's position, that this was a government of majorities alone. It 
was so framed as to protect minorities. Neither the house nor the 
senate represented majorities; the former represented local interests, 
and the latter was rather of an aristocratic character. The president 
alone represented majorities. He was the immediate representative 
of the people — of the majority of the people — having no regard 
whatever to national interests. He was allowed to have no national 
spirit — no spirit adverse to that of the body of the people, whom 
he represented. The object of the veto power, was, to protect this 
popular majority in their rights, as opposed to the local interests, or 
party interests, of congress. 

There was less danger from the executive, than any other depart- 
ment in the government ; if there was any danger, it was, that it might 
become too democratic. There was no fear of its being aristocratic. 
Twelve vetoes had been exerted — two by Washington, four by Madi- 
son, one by Monroe, five by Jackson ; and each veto was popular, and 
increased the strength of the executive. It was, after all, merely a 
conservative power — in force only for a short time, till the people 
could form and express their own opinions in the matter. Speech in 
the senate. 

§ See this frequently enforced by Locke on Government. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



29 



the rights of property, and to the necessary qualification 
for citizenship ; in short, the rights, privileges, and immu- 
nities of the laity, if we may so speak, in contradistinc- 
tion to all in authority; — this is a keystone in the repub- 
lican arch. # 

Trial by jury is also, and for the same reasons, an emi- 
nently republican element in government ; provided, how- 
ever, the jurors are selected from and by the people, f 
Blackstone calls an * aristocracy the most oppressive of 
absolute governments,' and he affirms that every new 
tribunal erected for the decision of facts, without the in- 
tervention of a jury, is a step toward establishing it.$ 

Simplicity, and an opposition to all unnecessary forms 
and external observances, is another principle of republic 
canism. Nothing is more repugnant to it than a subjec- 
tion to forms ; — nothing more distasteful than ceremonial 

* 1 Suffrage,' says a writer in the Charleston Courier, ' ought to be 
as general as it can be possibly made, without injury to society, and 
without defeating its own ends, and the very rights it was intended to 
secure. Universal suffrage is not now recognised in practice, by our 
general, or any of our state governments. Existing restrictions, 
extend throughout all of them to non-residents, females, minors, pau- 
pers, and privates, and non-commissioned officers in the army of the 
United States ; in many of them to slaves and free persons of color ; 
in nearly all of them to unnaturalized foreigners ; and in several, a 
property, or tax, or registry qualification is required. The problem 
of suffrage is one of difficult solution ; but it demands the attention 
of the American statesman. It should certainly be extended, if pos- 
sible, to every citizen, whether rich or poor, who is worthy to exer- 
cise it ; but some mode should be devised, to exclude those from this 
high privilege of republicanism, who basely barter it for gold, and 
thus corruptly hold up the high offices of the land to the highest bid- 
der; and we should not be deterred from adopting some efficient gen- 
eral rule, promotive of the purity of elections, although it should work 
individual hardship in a few instances. Universality of suffrage only 
mocks the people with the shadow of power, and really confers the 
substance on the wealthy aristocrat, or the artful demagogue. The 
best friends of republican government, and American freedom, are 
those who would devise some means of so regulating the right of 
suffrage, as would purge it of its impurities, and disorders, and secure 
political ascendency to the unb ought voice of the people.' Universal 
suffrage did not prevail even in the ancient democracies. Kent's Com- 
mentaries, vol. i. p. 232. 

t Tocqueville, i. pp. 308-311, 314. 

t Comment, b. iii. vol. ii. p. 295. 

3# 



30 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



observances.^ ' One of the plainest doctrines of Ameri- 
can republicanism is, that mere glory-giving titles, or 
titles of servility, are entirely opposed to its whole spirit. 
They are considered as one of those artificial means of 
king-craft, by which it fosters that aristocratic, unholy 
pride in the human heart, which loves to domineer over 
its fellow man, which loves artificial distinction of ranks, 
a privileged class, and, of course, which helps to sustain 
that whole system of regal and papal usurpation which 
has so long cursed mankind.' 

Our federal government is clothed with all the powers 
necessary to represent, and cany out, the interests of 
each state, and the conduct of those affairs which cannot 
be administered by the states separately, inasmuch as 
they regard the united interests of all ; and also to pre- 
serve peace among the various states. 

Our federal government is also empowered to act 
directly on the people, in carrying out the powers, and 
securing the objects, intrusted to it. So also are the 
states respectively, in their several spheres, and within 
the limits mentioned. 

The judiciary is appointed to pass upon any action of 
any member of the confederacy, which seems to be con- 
trary to the laws of the union, 

In short, Tocqueville reduces the principles which 
most powerfully conduce to mould the character of our 
republic, to these three.f ' The first is, that federal form 
of government which the Americans have adopted, and 
which enables the union to combine the power of a great 
empire with the security of a small state. The second 
consists in those municipal institutions which limit the 
despotism of the majority, and at the same time impart a 
taste for freedom, and a knowledge of the art of being 

* Tocqueville, vol. ii. pp. 3, 25, 26. 
t Vol. i. p. 327. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



31 



free, to the people.^ The third is to be met with in the 
constitution of the judicial power. I have shown in what 
manner the courts of justice serve to repress the excesses 
of democracy ; and how they check and direct the im- 
pulses of the majority, without stopping its activity.' 



SECTION III. 

The principles of repuhlicanis?n found in the Jeivish church. 

In its complete form, as embracing the invisible as well 
as the visible church, the Jewish form of government was 
a theocracy, or divine monarchy. God, for special ends, 
connected with the glorious scheme of redemption, con- 
descended to be elected king of the Hebrews, to give 
them a code of civil laws, to decide their more important 
litigations, and to solve inquiries which they proposed. 
But while the constitution of the Hebrew polity was, in 
its complete form, theocratical and monarchical ; in its 
relation to men, and the character of its earthly adminis- 
tration, it was necessary that it should assume a distinct 
and separate character. The patriarchal form of govern- 
ment, which, until this time, had generally prevailed, 
with few exceptions, throughout the east, may be re- 
garded as republican, the patriarch acting as perpetual 
president, with his officers under him, as is the case 
among the Arabs and the various tribes of Indians, at this 
very houir.f Such also was the character of the most 
primitive kingdoms and the most ancient kings. ' In the 
most remote antiquity,' says Jahn,$ ' aristocracies and 
democracies were well known, The inhabitants of 

* Ibid, vol. i. pp. 28-35, 85. 

t Algernon Sydney's Disc, on Govt. ch. i. § 7, Lond. 1751, 3d ed. 
% Hist, of Heb. Commonwealth, p. 59. See also Sydney's Disc, on 
Govt. ch. ii. § 8, 10, 16 and 18. 



32 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kirjathjearim, had 
neither king nor prince. The national council and the 
people commissioned ambassadors and concluded alli- 
ances. The Philistines were governed by five princes. 
The Phenicians were not, at all times, under regal gov- 
ernment, and when monarchy existed, the power of the 
king was very much limited. The Carthaginians, who 
emigrated from Phenicia, and probably formed their 
government on the model of that of the mother country, 
from the first introduced an aristocracy, in many respects 
similar to the old Venitian oligarchy. If the story of 
Herodotus (III. 80, 81,) be true, the great Persian mon- 
archy, after the death of the impostor Smerdis, came 
very near being transformed to a democracy.' The 
ancient states of Gaul also, from whence the Britons 
were probably derived, were aristocratic republics. In 
these it was customary to elect a prince or chief governor 
annually ; and a general was likewise appointed by the 
multitude to take command in war. Alliances between 
the different tribes was also a very prominent feature in 
their mode of government. A government of the same 
description had, before Caesar's time, extended itself in 
Britain.* 

The Hebrew magistrates,! who were very jealous of 
their prerogatives, managed the political concerns of the 
nation ; and their powers were so extensive, that Jose- 
phus chooses to denominate the government an artisto- 
cracy. Moses laid all the precepts and orders, which he 
received from Jehovah, before the magistrates, acknow- 
ledged their authority in the strongest terms, and sub- 
mitted their demands to the decision of Jehovah. But 
these magistrates could neither enact laws on their own 
authority, nor levy taxes. The people possessed so 

* Pritchard's Researches into Nat. Hist, of Man, vol. hi. pp. 175, 177. 
t Jahn, ibid, pp. 59, 60, and Archaeology, § 219, p. 261, &c. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



33 



much influence, that it was necessary, in all important 
cases, to have their approbation ; and when they were 
not consulted, they often remonstrated so loudly, as to 
force the magistrates to listen to them. They also some- 
times proposed laws, to be adopted by their legislatures ; 
and they had power sufficient to rescue Jonathan, when 
his life was endangered in consequence of the hasty vow 
of their first monarch. It is evident, therefore, that the 
aristocracy was greatly modified and limited by the inter- 
mingling of democracy. On this account, Lowman and 
Michaelis are inclined to denominate the Mosaic consti- 
tution a democracy. 

' The truth,' says Jahn,^ ' seems to be between these 
two opinions. The Hebrew government, putting out of 
view its theocratical features, was of a mixed form, in 
some respects approaching to a democracy, in others 
assuming more of an aristocratical character,' — that is, 
it was, as we have defined it, a republic. The affairs of 
this national church were conducted by a regular series 
of gradually ascending assemblies, representing the fam- 
ilies, the tribes, and the whole twelve tribes. These 
were composed of the princes, or heads of tribes, and of 
persons expressly denominated ' those called to the 
assembly, those deputed to the assembly, and the elders 
of the assembly.'! These are called by Jahn, ' comitia, 
or legislative assemblies.' These legislative assemblies 
exercised all the rights of sovereignty. They declared 
war, made peace, formed alliances, chose generals, chief 
judges or regents, and kings. They prescribed to the 
rulers, whom they elected, the principles by which they 
were to govern ; they tendered to them the oath of office, 
and rendered them homage. 

* Archaeology, p. 262. Algernon Sydney's Disc, on Govt. ch. ii. § 
9. Locke on Govt. B. i. ch. xi. § 168, 169. See also Lamy's Appa- 
ratus Biblicus, B. i. ch. xi. p. 195, &c. 

t Jahn's Heb. Com. pp. 48 and 56. Archaeology, § 218. Michaelis's 
Com. on Laws of Moses, art. 45, vol. i. p. 229. 



84 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



The number of these who were intrusted with power 
as judges, genealogists, heads of families, princes of 
tribes, and kings, or supreme judges, and who were all 
representatives of the people, and elected by them, was 
immense. There were, even at first, about sixty thou- 
sand judges of tens, twelve thousand judges of fifties, 
six thousand judges of hundreds, and six hundred judges 
of thousands.^ Every tribe had, therefore, its own chief 
magistrate, with the subordinate rulers, and was, in itself, 
a distinct and independent republic, which often acted as 
such, not only when there was neither king nor judge, 
but even in the times of the kings. t ' The constitution 
of Israel may, in this respect/ says Michaelis,$ ' be con- 
sidered, as in some measure, resembling that of Switzer- 
land, where thirteen cantons, of which each has a govern- 
ment of its own, and exercises the right of war, are all 
united into one great republic. All the twelve tribes had, 
at least, one commonweal. They had general diets, of 
which, we find examples in the twenty-third and twenty- 
fourth chapters of Joshua. They were bound, at least, 
by law and compact, to take the field against a common 
enemy ; and the tribe of Ephraim, as mentioned above, 
took it as a serious injury, that, without waiting for their 
assistance, the tribes beyond the Jordan had gone to war 
with the Ammonites. They frequently had general 
judges, and afterwards general sovereigns. And, even in 
times when they had no common head, any particular 
tribe that refused the administration of justice, might be 
accused before the other tribes, who were authorized to 
carry on war against it as a punishment. Of this, we 
find a remarkable instance in the twentieth chapter of 
Judges.^ 

* See Jahn's Heb. Com. pp. 45-47. 

t Michaelis's Com. on Laws of Moses, vol. i. p. 234. 

t Ibid, pp. 235, 236. 

§ See also, on this subject, Dr. Spring's Obligations of the World to 
the Bible, p. 109, &c. N. Y. 1839. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 35 
SECTION IV. 

The principles of republicanism fully developed in the 
christian church. 

This view of the republican character of the Hebrew 
polity, which might be enlarged by a reference to the 
synagogues, already brought under review,* will prepare 
us for considering the republicanism of the christian 
church. This, like the Jewish church, is in its complete 
form, a theocracy, Christ being King and Head of Zion ; 
but, unlike that, it is not of this world, having no reference 
to civil or political concerns, as matters of jurisdiction, but 
being exclusively conversant with spiritual things. Being, 
however, founded on earth ; having for its subjects living 
men ; and its affairs being, therefore, necessarily admin- 
istered by human agents, the church, as visible, must 
have some visible form, constitution, and polity. 

The original constitution of the christian church was, 
it has been said, a supreme theocracy, with a subordinate 
democracy, modified by an elective aristocracy.! The 
head of the whole body was the Lord Jesus Christ. The 
democracy was found in the christian laity, the members 
of the church ; and the aristocracy in those officers who 
were elected by them to rule over them in the Lord, and 
to administer His ordinances and statutes. ' But in 
process of time the theocracy was greatly neglected, the 
democracy oppressed and almost annihilated by the aris- 
tocracy ; and the aristocracy itself converted, first into an 
ambitious oligarchy, and lastly into a tyrannical des- 
potism.'J 

That the christian church was originally republican, in 
contrast with monarchy on the one hand, and democracy 

* See the Author's work, 1 Presbytery and not Prelacy the Scrip* 
tural and Primitive Polity.' B. i. ch. xiii. § 3. 
t See Eccl. Chron. by Rev. J. Riddle, p. 13. 
i Ibid, p. 14. 



36 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



on the other, has been generally acknowledged * This 
republican character continued till the time of Constan- 
tine, and is thus described by a philosophical Romanist, 
in a work issued as a prize essay, by the National Insti- 
tute of France. f ' While the apostles lived, they were 
naturally the heads of the communities or churches of 
which they were the institutors. After their death, the 
last pastor was replaced by his principal disciple. Sev- 
eral of these churches sometimes agreed with each other, 
and formed a sort of confederation, which appointed a 
common head, a visiter, episcopus, or bishop : afterwards 
they separated to subsist alone, or to unite with others. 
In general, they kept voluntarily within the limits of a 
province, prefecture, or diocese of the Roman empire. 
Each christian, however, was a disciple, an active mem- 
ber of the church or confederation to which he belonged. 
The pastors were the spiritual magistrates of them, repub- 
lican magistrates, whose decision, in matters of belief, 
was only valid, because they were believed to be wiser 
or better informed. $ 

* See Father Paul's History of Benefices, p. 52, &c. Neander's 
Hist, of the First Planting of Christianity, vol. i. p. 165, N. and p. 42. 
Waddington's Church Hist. pp. 23, 24, Eng. Ed. Baxter's Disput. on 
Ch. Govt. p. 267. Allsop's Melius Inquirendum, p. 235. Lord Brooke 
on Episcopacy, pp. SO -S3. That it has heen generally treated of under 
this name, appears from the names of some among many works. Pal- 
mer on the Ch. vol. i. p. 329. Bishop White's Mem. of Prot. Ep. Ch. 
p. 76. Dominis Mark Antony De Archbishop of Spalato in Dalmatia. 
De Rep. Ecclesiast. libri x. Lond. 1617, 3 vols. Andreas John Valen- 
tine, a Lutheran, Reipubl. Christiano-politanae Descriptio. Sancta 
Maria Juan de Repub. Polit. Church Par. 1631, 4to. Fixlanilmer 
Placidus, a German, Reipub. Sacrae Origines Divinae, 1760. Milman's 
Hist, of Christ, vol. ii. p. 65. Hoppus on Schism, p. 219. 

t Villers on the Reformation, p. 308. 

The situation of the churches,' says Neander, (Hist, of the Chr. 
Ch. vol. i. p. 195. See also 196, 197, and 198,) 'during the persecu- 
tions, and the numerous oppressions, in which the energetic conduct of 
one man at the head of affairs might prove of great use, furthered the 
formation of the monarchical government in the church. And yet, 
even in the third century, the presbyters were at the side of the bishops, 
as a college of councillors, and the bishops undertook nothing weighty 
without gathering together this council.' 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



37 



From the time of Constantine, A. D. 325, to Mahomet, 
A. D. 604, the church was governed by an oligarchy. And 
yet even, of this period, the same writer says, ' the 
bishops and patriarchs still compose an oligarchy, in 
which none submits legally to the authority of a single 
one. Laymen and priests still preserve their rights, and 
patriarchs bow to the authority of a council, diet, or par- 
liament of this church republic.'* 

From the period last named, until the time of Hilde- 
brand, A. D. 1073, the authority of the Roman See became 
predominant in the west, both in spiritual and temporal 
matters, and the government of the church monarchical.! 
From that time until the reformation, the authority of the 
Roman See was unlimited, the popes were regarded as 
the representatives of God, and the earth as their domain ; 
and the government of the church, therefore, was an 
unlimited spiritual despotism.^ 

' The acts of papal omnipotence,' adds this Romish 
author, c during its course, were the humiliation, urged to 
excess, of all christian princes and people ; rebels sup- 
ported and encouraged every where, against the legitimate 
authority, when that of the pope was in opposition to it ; 
sovereigns dispossessed and excommunicated, as well as 
their subjects ; crowns taken away, given, sold, according 
to the interests or passions of the pontiff; the bishops and 
clergy of all the catholic countries subjected to his will, 
receiving from him the investiture of their charges, and 
holding them almost exclusively of him ; so that the hierar- 
chy every where formed a state within a state, under the 
dominion of a foreign despotic chief, who, by its means, 
disposed of all the consciences, and of nearly all the riches 
of a country. The means employed by the court of Rome, 
to support so many usurpations, were, besides the fictitious 

* Villers on the Reformation, p. 315. 
t Ibid, p.323,&c. 
J Ibid, p. 334. 

4 



38 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



historical proofs, which imposed on the ignorance of these 
times, effrontery, perseverance, uniformity of design, 
which were always superior to the weakness and disun- 
ion of their opponents ; the celibacy of the clergy ; auric- 
ular confession ; the establishment of the mendicant 
orders and that of the inquisition ; the crusades, underta- 
ken by the christian princes, under the authority of the 
church; the immense sums which all the countries of the 
west poured into the pontifical treasury, under different 
names, tithes, Peter's pence, taxes, dispensations, &c; 
the indulgences and jubilees ; the doctrine of purgatory, 
which they employed as a support ; that of transubstan- 
tiation ; the worship of saints, of relics, and miraculous 
images, pilgrimages ; in fine, every thing which is capable 
of transferring religion to the senses of mankind, and 
consequently, of nourishing and exciting fanaticism, by 
depriving the mind of all right to examine and to weigh.' 

It must be allowed, that in the New Testament we 
nowhere meet with the terms monarchical, aristocratical, 
or republican, nevertheless the republican character of the 
christian church may be seen, by looking at its doctrines, 
its spirit, and its institutions. 

The doctrines of Christianity breathe the spirit of repub- 
licanism. All the opposite forms of government are 
founded upon four great sophisms, which were long re- 
ceived as axiomatic truths ; first, that the noble, the rich, 
and the great, are, by nature and divine right, superior to 
their fellow men ; secondly, that the other classes of 
society were designed to be in absolute subjection to the 
guidance of the great ; thirdly, that passive obedience is 
the sum of all civil virtue ; and fourthly, that true dignity 
and glory are found only in elevated rank, in power, in 
wealth, and in conquest* Now these sophisms Christ 

* See a very able work, by ' Brutus,' Foreign Conspiracy against the 
United States, p. 160. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



39 



completely and everlastingly destroyed, by passing by 
these elevated conditions of humanity, which he might 
have assumed ; by being born of humble parents, and in 
a lowly condition ; and by identifying himself through his 
whole life, with the people, and setting at nought all the 
pride, pomp, and circumstance of nobility and power. # 
The whole tenor of his instructions conveyed the same 
lessons to mankind. He taught that his kingdom was 
not of this world, and, therefore, that while it was a mon- 
archy, it was so only in relation to himself, as its invisible 
and eternal king. He retained all headship to himself, so 
that He is now, as much as when on earth, head over all 
things to his church. All power is given unto him, and 
resides in him, so that nothing is available on earth but 
what he ratifies in heaven. Christ, therefore, is the only 
source of all spiritual power ; the only lawgiver of his 
church ; the only supreme executive and judicial head. 
In erecting his church, he environed it with a written 
constitution. About her he has traced a circle, like that 
of the exorcist, with words of such tremendous power, 
that even the gates of hell cannot overstep it. * For I 
testify unto every man that heareth the words of the 
prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto these 
things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are writ- 
ten in this book ; and if any man shall take away from 
the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take 
away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy 
city, and from the things which are written in this book.' 

Christians are, therefore, to be in bondage to no man. 
They are to call no man master upon earth, seeing that 
one is their master, even Christ. The germ of the entire 
system of equality, as now developed in the theory of 

* It is therefore recorded, that ' the common people heard him gladly.' 
1 The cultivated heathen,' says Tholuck, ' were offended at Christian- 
ity, precisely for this reason, that the higher classes could no longer 
have precedence of the common people.' 



40 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



republicanism, is contained in the system of the gospel. 
For, since Christ has for ever accomplished all that was 
prefigured by the priesthood and sacrifices of the Old 
Testament, and all that is necessary to secure the ever- 
lasting salvation of mankind, it follows that all who by 
faith believe upon him, appropriate to themselves this 
salvation, stand in no need of any other mediation, human 
or super-human, are equally related to Christ and to God, 
are equally members of the christian commonwealth, are 
in God's sight, and in their spiritual birthright and priv- 
ileges, altogether equal. This system precludes for ever 
the possibility of those distinctions which are found in all 
other forms of religion, between a priestly caste, who are 
by divine right superior, and a plebeian caste, of whom 
these priests are the necessary governors, mediators, and 
directors. # On these grounds even the apostles always 
put themselves on an equality with their brethren, and 
asked an interest in their common prayers, and instead of 
tutoring the people to a condition of pupilage, depend- 
ence and vassalage, encouraged them to feel that they 
were all, equally with them, kings and priests unto God ;f 
and placed in this very spirit, that liberty by which they 
were so eminently distinguished above both Jews and 
Gentiles.* 

Christ therefore established the first idea of a universal 
religion, a fraternity of all men under the authority of a 
common head, a confederation of all in the one universal 
republic — his church.t How did Christ break down the 
middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile, crush 
the narrow jealousies, and proudly assumed superiority 
of the former over the latter, and acknowledge the Gen- 
tiles as members of God's kingdom, with equal privileges. 

^Epistle to Galatians, &c. 
t Rev. 12: 1, and 1 Peter, 2: 9. 

| Villers on the Ref. p. 303. See this idea beautifully developed by 
Reinhard, in his Plan of the Founder of Christianity. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



41 



How constantly does Paul contend for the independence 
of Christianity, upon all the forms and hierarchical notions 
of less enlightened brethren. In all his epistles, we 
find noble protests against the Judaizing spirit of intoler- 
ance, and in favor of the freedom of the Gentile christian 
churches. The consciousness of divine life, received from 
Christ, thus necessarily led to the recognition of a com- 
munion embracing all mankind, a unity which counterbal- 
anced all the other differences existing among mankind 
and which reconciled the most marked contrarieties, aris- 
ing either from religion, national peculiarities, or mental 
culture. 1 For ye are all the children of God, by faith in 
Christ Jesus, for as many of you as have been baptized in- 
to Christ, have put on Christ.'^ 

Christ also abjured all employment of force or compul- 
sion, in the propagation or preservation of the gospel. He 
rebuked the disciples, who would have called down fire 
from heaven to consume their adversaries ; telling them 
that they knew not what spirit they were, (or should be,) 
of, as Christians. He rebuked Peter when he drew his 
sword against the high priest's servants, assuring him that 
they who draw the sword, shall perish by the sword. 
When he could have summoned to his rescue ' more than 
twelve legions of angels,' he meekly submitted to the pow- 
er of his enemies ; and when all authority was given to him 
in heaven and on earth, he sent forth his disciples, not to 
subjugate or coerce, but to teach all nations whatsoever 
he had commanded them. In short, as the Abbe de la 
Menais familiarly and frequently says, Christ was, if we 
may reverently speak it, the great republican of his 
age.t 

Neither is anything more frequently and forcibly incul- 
cated in the New Testament, than the right and duty of 

* Neander's Plant, of Chr. Ch. ii. 165. 

t See in Dr. Spring's Oblig. of the "World to the Bible, p. 115. 
4* 



42 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



private judgment. It addresses its hearers as ' reasona- 
ble men.' It 4 commends the truth to every man's con- 
science in the sight of God.' It calls upon all that have 
ears, to hear ; upon all that hear to search the scriptures 
whether the things heard are so ; to prove all things, and 
to hold fast that which is good. And it requires every man 
to be fully persuaded in his own mind, and thus to be able 
to give a reason of the hope that is in him, to every one 
that asketh it. 

Equally opposed is the whole tenor of the gospel to all 
formalism and to that ritual kind of worship, from which it 
was a deliverance. It is eminently simple, spiritual, and 
rational. And while it necessarily accommodates itself, in 
some measure, to the weakness of man, in the employment 
of outward rites and external worship, it warns every man 
that ' the letter killeth, the spirit giveth life ;' and that 
* circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision, (or baptism,) 
is nothing, but a new creature.' Paul declares, that ' Christ 
sent him not to baptize, (or to administer sacraments and 
frame liturgies, and prescribe fasts and saint's days,) but 
to preach the gospel.' ' Let no man, therefore,' says the 
inspired apostle, ' judge or condemn you, in regard to the 
use of meat or drink, which they choose to interdict, or for 
not observing the festivals and holy days they choose to 
establish. These things, as established under the former 
economy, were only a shadow of good things to come, 
but Christ and his gospel are the body, and contain 
all things necessary to be either believed or practiced. 
Wherefore if ye, by belief in Christ, are freed from any ne- 
cessity for trusting in these worldly and carnal ordinances, 
why do ye still, as if bound by them, subject yourselves to 
such human institutions, which are only enforced by the 
commandments and doctrines of depraved and supersti- 
tious men/* 



* Col. 2. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



43 



Such are some of the principles of the gospel. And 
well do they entitle it to be called 1 the glorious liberty of 
the children of God.' Instead of weakening our attach- 
ment to the principles of liberty, it augments it a hundred 
fold, by that spirit of noble independence it inspires ; by 
the magnitude of those religious privileges it confers ; and 
by the ardor and tenacity with which it leads us to cling 
to them. It is irreconcilable with spiritual despotism. It 
leads not only to perfect equality, but to perfect freedom. 
It proclaims to every man liberty of conscience, free from 
the doctrines and impositions of men, guided and restrain- 
ed only by that ' law of liberty,' whose service is perfect 
freedom. # 

And if, now, we turn from the principles and spirit, to 
the institutions of Christ, we will find them equally har- 
monious with the genius of republicanism. Christ insti- 
tuted a church — and what is the church ? It is the whole 
number of Christ's faithful people. It includes every true 
believer, whether high or low, rich or poor, learned or un- 
learned. To these he gave his commission. To these he 
bequeathed his promises. To these he delegated the ad- 
ministration of his laws, the proclamation of his gospel, and 
the propagation of his cause ; and these, wherever they 
are found, are members of the church of Christ. The first 
christian community constituted, as it were, one family. It 
was based upon the recognition of a full and perfect equal- 
ity, in all its members, neither sacrificing the individual to 
the community, nor the community to the individual. Ev- 
ery christian was then a priest and a king unto God, and 
had a full participation, either personally, or through others 
delegated by him, in all the acts of government, and disci- 
pline, and in the appointment of officers. f All the mem- 

* See Symington's Dominion of Christ, p. 210, and Chalmers's Wks. 
vol. vi. pp. 179, 180. 

t Neander's Plant, of the Chr. Ch. vol. i. pp. 37, 41, 42. See also 
Claude's Def. of the Ref. part iv. ch. iii. p. 233, vol. ii. 



11 



ECCLESIASTICAL 



REPUBLICANISM. 



bers of the community took part in its government, and 
each had an equal right to do so. As none were different 
from their fellows, none could exercise tyrannical power. 
They were perfectly free, because entirely equal, and they 
were all entirely equal, because perfectly free. # 

Christ instituted a ministry and officers for his church — 
and who are these ? Any aristocratic body ? No. Any 
spiritual nobility ? No. Any close corporation of self-ex- 
alted dignitaries, who might perpetuate, in hereditary suc- 
cession, their ' plenitude of episcopal power and grace ? ' 
No. Any vassal throng of eunuch celibates or monks, the 
body-guard of Him who sitteth in the temple of God, as 
the vicar of Christ, and calling himself God ? Oh no. 
They are those whom he calls by his grace and Spirit. 
They are those whom he makes willing by his power. 
They are those whom his faithful people elect and choose 
to minister to them in holy things.! They are taken 
from among the people. They are those who are tried in 
all points as the people ; who sustain all the cares, and dis- 
charge all the duties, devolving on the people ; and who 
are thus touched with a feeling of all their people's infirmi- 
ties. They are educated by the people. Their gifts are 
tried by the people. They are called to their work by the 
peopled and they are sustained in their labors by the free- 

* Tocqueville, ii. 99. 
t See Claude, Ibid. 

X ' So far as regards elections to these offices,' says Neander, (Hist, 
of the Chr. Ch vol. i. pp. 191, 192.) 4 we are without sufficient informa- 
tion to decide certainly, how it was managed in the first apostolic 
times, and it is very possible, that from a difference in circumstances, 
the same method of proceeding was not adopted in all cases. As the 
apostles, on the appointment of the deacons, allowed the church itself 
to choose ; and as this also was the case, when deputies were sent by 
the churches, in their name, to accompany the apostles, (2 Cor. 8: 19,) 
we may conclude that a similar proceeding was resorted to in the ap- 
pointment to other church offices.' 

Of a later period he speaks, at pp. 203, 204, ' In regard to the elec- 
tion into church offices, the old principle was nevertheless constantly 
abided by, that the consent of the church was required, to ratify such an 
election, and that every one was at liberty to bring forward objections 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



45 



will contributions of the people. They are, therefore, the 
servants of the people. They exist for the people, and 
not the people for them. They are the shepherds of the 
flock. 

Christ instituted two, and only two sacraments, and 
these are open alike to the rich and to the poor, to the 
bond and to the free, to the male and to the female. 

Christ instituted church courts for the decision of con- 
troversies, either in cases of conscience, or in point of 
manners, for the admission or exclusion of members from 
the body. Now in each and all of these, the people sat, 
not en masse, but by their chosen representatives or del- 
egates. The very first christian convention held at Jeru- 
salem, was a meeting of chosen delegates, and the first 
controversy respected the liberties of the church.* ' If 
we rightly consider apostolic example, councils are nothing 
but general presbyteries/t representing the interests of 
many churches, just as particular presbyteries watched 
over the affairs of individual churches. In these sat the 
apostles, when alive and present, the presbyters, and the 
brethren who were chosen to such office by the people. 
These officers, or christian magistrates, were elective by 
the people of each particular church. They were also 
numerous, constituting a college or senate. In every 

against it. The Emperor Alexander Severus was aware of this regu- 
lation of the Christian Church, and he appealed to it, when he wished 
to introduce a similar course in the election of the civil magistrates in 
towns. When Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, separated from his church, 
by calamitous circumstances, named men of his neighborhood who had 
particularly distinguished themselves in the persecution, he apologized 
for this arbitrary conduct, which had been wrung from him by neces- 
sity, before the laity and the clergy, and he writes to both : ; We are 
accustomed to call you together to consult previously to the consecra- 
tion to spiritual offices, and to weigh the character and merits of all in 
a general consultation.' That principle was also recognised in the 
appointment to the episcopal office, it was the prevailing custom in the 
third century. 

*Neander's Hist, of the Planting of Ch. Chr. vol. i. pp. 136, 147. See 
also Lord Brooke, on Episcop. pp. SO -83. 
t Milton's Works, vol. i. p. 106. 



46 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



assembly or senate, the laity had their representatives. 
Finally, these officers were not thrust upon the people by 
any appointment exterior to themselves, but were chosen 
by their own free and unrestrained votes, from the general 
body* 

The form of government in each christian church was 
not monarchical, since the supreme power was not lodged 
in the hands of any one individual. ' The monarchical 
principle,' says Neander,f ' in spiritual things accords ill 
with the spirit of Christianity,' &c, which constantly points 
to the feelings of mutual need, and the necessity and 
blessing of common deliberation, as well as of common 
prayer. Where two or three are gathered together in the 
name of the Lord, there, also, he promises will he be 
among them. In addition to this, it was the custom of 
Christianity, to appropriate to its own use existing forms, 
when it found any which suited its spirit and its essence. 
Now there was actually a form of government existing in 
the Jewish synagogues, and in all the sects which had 
their origin in Judaism ; and this was in no respect a mo- 
narchical, but an aristocratical, that is, republican form ; 
a council of the elderly men, ngsa^vTegoi, which conducted 
all common affairs. It was most natural for Christianity, 
developing itself from out of Judaism, to embrace this 
form. This form must also, wherever churches were 
established in the Roman empire, among the heathen, 
have appeared the most natural ; for men were here 
accustomed, from of old, to see the affairs of the town 
carried on by a senate, the assembly of decuriones. That 
the comparison of ecclesiastical administration with the 
political, really took place here, is shown by this, that the 
spiritual persons were afterwards named an or do, the 
leading senate of the church, for ordo was a word pecu- 

* See Neander's Planting of Chr. Ch. i. pp. 165-181. 
t Hist, of the Chr. Ch. and Rel. i. 186, 187. See also 193. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



47 



liarly appropriated to this rank of senators, or do senatorum. 
In compliance with this form, a council of elders was gen- 
erally appointed, to conduct the affairs of the churches ; 
but it was not necessary that it should be strictly compo- 
sed of those who were the most aged, although age was 
taken very much into the account ; but age was rather 
considered here as a sign of dignity, as in the latin senatus, 
or in the Greek yegovoia. Besides the usual appellation 
of these governors of the churches, namely, presbyters, 
there were many others also in use, designating their 
peculiar sphere of action, as shepherds, and one of these 
appellations was also bishops, denoting their office, as 
leaders and overseers over the whole of the church.' 

Neither was the form of the apostolical church govern- 
ment democratical, since the power was exercised, not by 
the people, in mass, but through their appointed officers, 
except on such occasions, when it became necessary for 
the people to resume their authority, and to elect new 
officers. The government of the primitive church was 
therefore republican, that is, the sovereign power resided 
in the christian people, constituting each community ; 
the supremacy of the people was acknowledged; the 
equality of rights and powers in every member of the 
church preserved; submission to laws emanating from 
them, or at least avouched by them, alone, required ; while 
all officers were elected by the people, were amenable to 
them, held office over them at their will, and received 
compensation to perform services for their spiritual ben- 
efit. ' As to what further regards the relation of these 
presbyters to the churches,' says Neander, # 1 they were des- 
tined to be, not unlimited monarchs, but rulers and guides 
in an ecclesiastical republic, and to conduct every thing in 
conjunction with the church assembled together, as the 
servants, and not the masters of which, they were to 
act.' So that while the exercise of power was in the 

* History of the Christian Church, vol. i. p. 193. 



48 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



officers, that is, the ministers and representatives of the 
people, the source of that authority, as delegated by Christ, 
and as bounded by his immutable and written laws, was 
in the people. 

' Each individual church,' adds Mosheim, in his Com- 
mentaries, # ' assumed to itself the form and rights of a 
little distinct republic or commonwealth ; and with regard 
to its internal concerns was wholly regulated by a code 
of laws, that, if they did not originate with, had, at least, 
received the sanction of the people constituting such 
church. This primitive liberty and independence, how- 
ever, was by degrees relinquished, and it became the 
practice for all the minor churches within a province, to 
form themselves into one large association, and to hold, at 
stated seasons, much after the manner of confederate re- 
publics, a convention, in which the common interests and 
welfare of the whole were taken into consideration, and 
provided for. Of the immediate authors of this arrange- 
ment we are uninformed, but it is certain that it had its 
origin in Greece ; and there are many things which com- 
bine to prove, that, during this century, it did not extend 
itself beyond the confines of Asia. In process of time, 
however, the very great advantages attending on a fed- 
eration of this sort, becoming apparent, other provinces 
were induced to follow the example of Greece, and by 
degrees this form of government became general through- 
out the whole church ; so that the christian community 
may be said, thenceforward, to have resembled one large 
commonwealth, made up, like those of Holland and Swit- 
zerland, of many minor republics. These conventions or 
assemblies, in which the delegates from various associated 
churches, consulted on what was requisite to be done for 
the common welfare of the whole, were termed synods, 
by the Greeks, and by thy Latins, councils. To the laws 

* Comment, on the Affairs of Christ, vol. ii. p. 99, 100. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



49 



enacted by these deputies, under the powers with which 
they were invested by their respective churches, the 
Greeks gave the name of canons, or general rules, and by 
this title it also became usual for them to be distinguished 
by the Latins.' 

These common councils, synods, and general assem- 
blies, were first regularly established among the Greeks, 
a country which had been accustomed to a federal system, 
and to the use of public assemblies in matters of legisla- 
ture and jurisprudence. "We have records preserved of 
such christian assemblies, as early as A. D. 160-173.^ 
It was impossible they should have been formed much 
earlier, since the churches and presbyteries were compar- 
atively few, far apart, and prevented, by external oppo- 
sition and jealous resistance, from making any visible 
display of their union or their strength. From the very 
first, however, they held intercourse and exchanged views ; 
granted letters of intercommunion ; and, by a certain com- 
mon law, governed the whole body.f These more gen- 
eral associations were, therefore, the spontaneous and 
necessary development of the principles of Christianity — 
the christian, catholic spirit. They appear, says Nean- 
der,$ for the first time, as a constant and regular institution, 
fixed to definite terms, about the end of the second or the 
beginning of the third century ; and it was in this case a 
peculiarity of one country, where particular local causes 
may have introduced such an arrangement earlier than in 
other regions. This country was, in fact, exactly Greece, 
where, from the time of the Achaic league, the system of 
confederation had maintained itself; and as Christianity 
is able to connect itself with all the peculiarities of a 
people, provided they contain nothing immoral, and enter- 
ing into them, to take itself a peculiar form resembling 

* Riddle's Christ. Antiq. p. 223. 

t Neander's Hist, of the Chr. Relig. and Ch. vol. i. p. 208. &c. 
\ Ibid, p. 212. 

5 



50 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



them, so also it might easily happen, that here the civil 
federal spirit ivhich already existed, worked upon the eccle- 
siastical catholic spirit, and gave it earlier than in other 
regions, a tolerably good form, so that out of the represent- 
ative assemblies of the civil communities, the Amphicty- 
onic councils, were formed the representative assemblies 
of the ecclesiastical communities, that is, the provincial 
synods. 

Thus evident is it, that whether we look to the doctrines, 
the spirit, or the institutions of Christianity, it was deeply 
imbued with the essential principles of republicanism. 
We might suppose that these {principles had been derived 
from our own American union, were it not certain that 
our union derived them from Christianity. ' And we all 
know,' says Mr. Webster, in his Address on Bunker Hill * 
' that it (the American revolution) could not have lived 
a single day under any well founded imputation of pos- 
sessing a tendency adverse to the christian religion.' 
Something analogous was indeed found in the Hebrew 
republic, and, as derived from it, in the democracies of 
Greece ; but ' the church councils,' as even a prelatist 
confesses, are perhaps the first decided instance in the 
world's history, of the adoption of the representative mode 
of government,' through a confederation of independent 
republics.! Such, also, is the opinion of Sir James 
Mackintosh, who, in his History of England says, ' the 
synods and councils formed by the clergy, afforded the 
first pattern of elective and representative assemblies, 
which were adopted by the independent genius of the 
Germanic race,' for many ages4 

* 1825, p. 30. 

t Keble on Tradition, p. 144. 

\ Hist, of Eng. vol. i. p. 43. See also Vaughan's Life of Wickliffe, 
vol. i. 12, 13. The late Dewitt Clinton took the same view, having 
declared that ' Christianity is in its essence, its doctrines, and its forms, 
republican.' See Dr. Spring's Obligations of the World to the Bible, 
p. 115. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



51 



And it was the glory of the reformation, that by the 
power of God, who lifted up a standard against the enemy, 
it expelled from the church that anti-christian hierarchy, 
which had usurped the powers of government, and wielded 
a spiritual despotism over the enslaved people ; and that 
it restored these disfranchised members of Christ's body, 
the laity, to the discharge of their proper duties in it, and 
to the consciousness of their supreme and paramount 
importance.* 

*Dr. Arnold. See on this subject, Dr. Spring's Obligations of the 
World to the Bible, Lect. iv. 



CHAPTER II. 



PRESBYTERY REPUBLICAN BOTH IN ITS DOCTRINAL AND 
ECCLESIASTICAL SYSTEMS. 



SECTION I. 

What denominations are included under the term pres- 
bytery in the present argument. 

We are now to show that these republican principles 
are found embodied and carried out in the doctrines and 
order of the presbyterian church. We wish it, however, 
to be again borne in mind, that, while we shall take, as our 
model, our own standards and discipline, that neverthe- 
less, we include under the term presbyterian, all denom- 
inations which are governed by ministers who are recog- 
nised as of one order, and who, as well as their other 
officers, are chosen, are removable, and are supported, by 
the people ; who acknowledge the right and duty of con- 
federated associations among the churches, composed of 
lay and clerical delegates, for mutual advice, direction, 
and control ; and who, while republican, are not strictly 
democratical, or congregational. Our remarks, therefore, 
will substantially apply to the Baptist churches, who meet 
in associations ; — to the Lutheran church; — to the Re- 
formed church ; — to the Dutch Reformed church ; — to 
the Protestant Methodist church; — and to the whole 
body of the New England Puritans, although now gen- 
erally denominated congregationalists. This, however, 
is not their true character. They are essentially presby- 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



53 



terian in their ministry; — in their church officers, who 
are substantially ruling elders; — in their mode of edu- 
cating, licensing, calling, ordaining, and installing pas- 
tors ; — in their mode of trial and appeal, before ecclesi- 
astical councils, composed of delegated members ; — and 
in their associations or consociations, which meet at reg- 
ular periodic times, and exercise all the powers of our 
synods. The Cambridge and Saybrook platforms, which 
are still acknowledged by them, are almost identical with 
the Westminster standards. Any thing ' savoring of inde- 
pendency,' was in time past treated as something new 
and unheard of.'* President Dale, of Yale College, told 
Dr. Lang, he had never heard of their being designated 
by any other name than presbyterians in that State, till he 
was thirty years of age.t The pilgrim fathers of New 
England distinctly repudiated the system of pure inde- 
pendency, originally established in England. This will 
appear from the valuable work of Cotton, edited by the 
celebrated Thomas Godwin and Philip Nye, and re- 
cently reprinted in Boston. These authors maintain that 
Christ gave ' unto the elders or presbytery, in each con- 
gregation, a binding power of rule and authority peculiar 
unto them ;' that synods, composed of * a communion or 
association of churches sending their elders,' is also an 
ordinance of Christ, and has ' authority to determine, de- 
clare, and enjoin such things as may tend to the reducing 
of such congregations to right order and peace ;'t and 
that their scheme of church government is the ' middle 
way between that which is called Brownism and the 
presbyterial government^ The present deacons of con- 
gregational churches are substantially the ruling elders of 
presbyterian churches, their councils our presbyteries, 

* See Dr. Lang's Relig. and Educ. in America, p. 56, where he 
quotes Dr. Worcester's Disc. p. 53. 

t Ibid, p. 58. See the whole of the chapter. 

t The Keys of Heaven, Boston, 1843. Ep. to the reader, p. 7,&c. 
§ Ibid, p. 7. 

5* 



54 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



and their consociations our synods. All, therefore, that 
is good in the present system, or the past working, of 
New England puritanism, we claim for presbyterianism ; 
and all its evils, and the present dangerous symptoms of 
departure from the faith of their fathers, by a portion of 
their churches, we attribute, in part, to the undue prepon- 
derance of the democratic over the republican principle * 



SECTION II. 

Presbytery republican in its doctrines. 

Now that our doctrines are in their spirit and influence 
most conformable to the principles of republicanism, has 
been already manifested.! Liberty of conscience, liberty 
of opinion, the right and duty of private judgment, and 
the liberty of expressing freely the views and opinions of 
the mind ; these principles of republicanism are found 
written among the cardinal verities of our faith, as with 

* Dr. Owen argues against the alleged democracy of Congregation- 
alism. See works, vol. xx. p. 480. See also Dr. Lang, ibid, pp. 64, 65. 
See also Neal's History of the Puritans, vol. ii. pp. 184, 186. Dr. Hodge's 
Hist, of the Presb. Ch. vol. i. ch. 1. The present congregationalists of 
England are also adopting the essential principles of presbyterianism. 
They have their county unions. In cities they manage their common 
interests, by a committee appointed for that purpose. ' But,' says Dr. 
Vaughan, (Congregationalism, p. 54, 55,) ' it is only within the last ten 
years that we have availed ourselves of this liberty so fully, as in the 
organization of this union — the one central union, made up of nearly 
all the county unions of England and Wales. It is well known that 
the object we have thus realized, is precisely that which was contem- 
plated by Dr. Owen, and other fathers of independency in England 
before the restoration. It was to form a union of this nature, that a 
large number of ministers and laymen were at that time convened, 
from all parts of the country, in the Savoy Palace ; and the platform 
of a congregational union, embracing all the congregational ministers 
and churches in the land, was agreed upon, and made public. But 
with the restoration came the end of religious liberty, and an end, of 
course, to the possibility of perpetuating this enlarged association of 
our body.' 

t See ch. i. § 4, p. 35, &c. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM, 



55 



the point of a diamond.* The pulpit was to the church 
in other ages, what the press is to the world now. This 
was the last refuge of down-trodden truth, the last bul- 
wark of an enslaved people against their spiritual op- 
pressors. To the pulpit, and the freedom of discussion 
which it allowed, do we owe all the reforms that have 
ever rescued the church from her debasing corruptions. 
Here WicklifFe aroused a slumbering nation. Here 
Luther thundered, Zuingle persuaded, and Calvin 
taught. Here Knox and Melville achieved for Scotland, 
what had been accomplished for Europe. What calumny 
is more constantly uttered against the fathers of presby- 
terianism, and the system generally, than their unwar- 
rantable liberty of speech.f Neither was it without 
cause, that arbitrary monarchs and despotic prelates 
raged against this freedom, and by all possible artifices 
endeavored to gag and choke its free utterance. ' Per- 
sons,' says Dr. McCrie,$ 'may declaim at their pleasure 
on the insufferable license in which the preachers in- 
dulged ; but it will be found, that the discouragement 
of vice and impiety, the checking of the most crying 
abuses in the administration of justice, and the pre- 
serving of common peace and order in the country, de- 

* See Dr. Miller on the Min. ed. of 1830, p. xxxvi. Scottish Chr. 
Herald, 1838, p. 231. Brown's Vind. of Presb. Ch. Govt. pp. 15, 17, 
18, 33. Presb. Defended, pp. 176-179. Gillespie's Aaron's Rod Blos- 
soming, pp. 176-182. 

t An anecdote is told of James commanding Bruce, when raging at 
his majesty's conduct, to come down from the pulpit, or to speak 
sense, and of Bruce declaring that he would do neither. 

X Life of Melville, ii. 76. See also vol. i. pp. 302, 304, for some very 
fine remarks. See also Dr. Aiton's Life and Times of Alexander 
Henderson, p. 46, where Dr. Cook is quoted as saying, ' we must, if 
we calmly investigate the history of the period at present under re- 
view, be satisfied that we, in a great degree, owe to the intrepidity of 
the clergy the liberties which we enjoy, and that, had they remained 
silent, not branding the measures which they saw to be pregnant with 
the heaviest evils, the king would either have destroyed every vestige 
of freedom, or what was more likely, his throne would have been 
subverted, and Scotland delivered into the hands of a merciless and 
bigoted tyrant.' 



56 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



pended on the freedom of the pulpit, to a degree 
which no one, who is not particularly acquainted with 
the state of things at that period, can conceive. 

But, without going into any general analysis of doc- 
trines, we would remark that there are three principles 
which lie at the basis of our presbyterian system, doc- 
trinally considered, and which will, wherever fully sus- 
tained and carried out, secure by their necessary tenden- 
cies, civil and religious liberty. To these we more 
especially advert, because they are the very points 
selected by bishop Hughes, as proof of the opposition of 
the doctrines of our church to the principles of civil and 
religious liberty.^ One is the supreme authority of holy 
scripture, as the only infallible rule of faith and prac- 
tice, and the only authoritative promulgator of heaven's 
will, and this, without any intervening authority of the 
church, in its fathers, councils, popes, or prelates. 
Another is the doctrine of grace, the freeness, efficacy, 
and unencumbered sufficiency of that justification, which 
is obtained through the imputed righteousness of Christ, 
and received only by faith in his finished work, and once 
offered sacrifice. 

Animated by these principles, no man can be a slave 
to the spiritual despotism of a hierarchy. Redeemed, 
regenerated, and disenthralled from all necessary de- 
pendence, for either the knowledge or the enjoyment of 
God, upon any fellow being, man, in the faith of these 
doctrines, stands erect in his own proper stature. He 
feels his individual responsibility, and his infinite obliga- 
tions to God. He ceases to be an ignorant devotee, and 

# See Breckinridge and Hughes's Discussion, Philad. 1836. pp. 285, 
286, &c. Even this wily sophist, however, does not pretend to found 
his argument upon what these doctrines are, in themselves, but upon 
certain most illogical and most absurd consequences, which he deduces 
from them, — a practice, which, of itself, betrays the cloven foot of 
that despotism, which condemns men by constructive evidence, where 
there is no positive proof. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



57 



becomes a spiritual worshipper of that Being who is a 
Spirit. And while he bows reverently to the will and 
authority of God, he spurns from him that interference of 
a fellow mortal, which would claim a dominion over his 
faith. These are doctrines, as has been ably remarked,^ 
with which no forms of superstition, no spiritual des- 
potism, will ever be made to consist ; and which doctrines, 
while in their aspect toward man, individually as a sin- 
ner, they afford the only ground of hope ; so, in their less 
direct, but inevitable influence over the condition of man 
in society, constitute the unobtrusive, but effectual guar- 
antee of national liberties. They do so, as well by the 
firm moral tone which they impart to the social system, 
as by the necessity they involve of a constant appeal to 
the supreme authority of scripture : — for this very appeal 
implies religious liberty; and religious liberty secures 
political liberty. 

With the reception or rejection of these doctrines 
stand or fall, asceticism, superstition, and despotism, or, 
as they may be otherwise termed, monkery, demonolatry, 
and hierarchical tyranny — those powerful ingredients in 
all the various forms of human corruption and debase- 
ment. The testimony of Bancroft to this truth is very 
striking.! 1 Years are to ' fools ' as days in the providence 
of God, and in the progress of the race. After long 
waiting, an Augustine monk at Wittemberg, who had 
seen the lewd corruptions of the Roman court, and who 
loathed the deceptions of a coarse superstition, brooded 
in his cell over the sins of his age, and the method of 
rescuing conscience from the dominion of forms, till he 
discovered a cure for its vices in the simple idea of justi- 
fication by faith alone. With this principle, easily intel- 
ligible to the universal mind, and spreading, like an 

* Isaac Taylor, in Pref. to Life of Luther. London Chr. Ob. Auff. 
1840, p. 503. 8 
t History of United States, vol. ii. p. 459. 



58 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



epidemic, widely and rapidly, — a principle strong enough 
to dislodge every superstition, to overturn every tyranny, 
to enfranchise, convert, and save the world, — he broke 
the wand of papal supremacy, scattered the lazars of the 
monasteries, and drove the penance of fasts, and the ter- 
rors of purgatory, masses for the dead, and indulgences 
for the living, into the paradise of fools.' 

Not less remarkable is the estimate of these doctrines, 
made by Sir James Mackintosh* ' It was fortunate also/ 
he says, ' that the enormities of Tetzel,' (the pope's 
retailer of indulgences,) ' found Luther busied in the con- 
templation of the principle, which is the basis of all ethical 
judgment, and by the power of which he struck a mortal 
blow at superstition ;' namely, ' men are not made truly 
righteous by performing certain actions which are exter- 
nally good, but men must have righteous principles in the 
first place ; and then they will not fail to perform virtuous 
actions.' He calls it ' a proposition equally certain and 
sublime ; ' and adds, that Luther, in a more special appli- 
cation of his principle, used it to convey his doctrine of 
justification by faith.' And again he says, 'in justice to 
him, the civil historian should never omit the benefits which 
accrued to the moral interests of society from this principle! 
This principle is the merit of Christ, made ours by the 
power of God, working faith in us ; and by union to Christ, 
making us free from guilt and pollution. To this christ- 
ians are, by God's decree, predestinated. This secures 
moral liberty, and moral rectitude ; makes a man ' a law 
unto himself — and therefore a good citizen; the freest, 
noblest, and most just of men.' 

Such are the views of philosophers, in giving an impar- 
tial verdict on the influence of presbyterian doctrines upon 
civil and religions liberty. But the doctrine of predesti- 

* Hist, of Eng. vol. ii. pp. 120. 121, and Breckinridge and Hughes', 
Discuss, p. 309. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 59 

nation remains to be considered, upon which, and its 
implied principles, the objector mainly relies. Now it 
would be easy to show how this doctrine, properly under- 
stood, lays the axe to the very root of all human pride, 
and establishes, upon an immovable foundation, the doc- 
trine of human equality ; the utter nothingness of all 
human distinctions ; and the perfect independence of 
every man upon every other man, for eternal life, and for 
all spiritual blessings. We are, however, able to present 
the testimony of Mr. Bancroft, who cannot be supposed 
by any one to cherish favorable sentiments towards this 
doctrine, as to its actual results. 

' Calvinism,' he says, # ' is gradual republicanism.' ' In 
Geneva, a republic on the confines of France, Italy, and 
Germany, Calvin, appealing to the people for support, 
continued the career of enfranchisement, by planting the 
institutions which nursed the minds of Rousseau, Necker, 
and De Stael.' 

' The political character of Calvinism, which, with one 
consent, and with instinctive judgment, the monarchs of 
that day feared as republicanism, and which Charles I. 
declared a religion unfit for a gentleman, is expressed in 
a single word — predestination. Did a proud aristocracy 
trace its lineage through generations of a high-born ances- 
try, the republican reformer, with a loftier pride, invaded 
the invisible world, and from the book of life brought down 
the record of the noblest enfranchisement, decreed from 
all eternity by the King of kings. His few converts defied 
the opposing world as a world of reprobates, whom God 
had despised and rejected. To them the senses were a 
totally depraved foundation, on which neither truth nor 
goodness could rest. They went forth in confidence that 
men who were kindling with the same exalted instincts, 
would listen to their voice, and be effectually ' called into 



*Hist. of United States, vol. ii. pp. 4G1-463. 



60 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



the brunt of the battle' by their side. And, standing 
serenely amidst the crumbling fabrics of centuries of 
superstitions, they had faith in one another ; and the mar- 
tyrdoms of Cambray, the fires of Smithfield, the surrender 
of benefices by two thousand non-conforming presbyte- 
rians, attest their perseverance. And what were the 
results ?' 

' Such was the system,' adds this writer, ' which, for a 
century and a half, assumed the guardianship of liberty 
for the English world. ' A wicked tyrant is better than a 
wicked war,' said Luther, preaching non-resistance ; and 
Cranmer echoed back, ' God's people are called to render 
obedience to governors, although they be wicked or wrong- 
doers, and in no case to resist.' ' Civil magistrates,' replied 
English Calvinism, — I quote the very words, in which, 
under an extravagant form, its champion asserted the 
paramount power of general principles, and the inalienable 
rights of freedom, — 1 civil magistrates must be servants 
unto the church ; they must remember to submit their 
sceptres, to throw down their crowns before the church, 
yea, as the prophet speaketh, to lick the dust of the feet 
of the church.' To advance intellectual freedom, Calvin- 
ism denied, absolutely denied, the sacrament of ordination ; 
thus breaking up the great monopoly of priestcraft, and 
scattering the ranks of superstition. 1 Kindle the fire 
before myface,' said Jerome, meekly, as he resigned him- 
self to his fate ; to quench the fires of persecution forever, 
Calvinism resisted with fire and blood, and shouldering 
the musket, proved, as a foot-soldier, that, on the field of 
battle, the invention of gunpowder had levelled the plebeian 
and the knight. To restrain absolute monarchy in France, 
in Scotland, in England, it allied itself with the party of 
the past, the decaying feudal aristocracy, which it was 
sure to outlive ; to protect itself against feudal aristocracy, 
it infused itself into the mercantile class, and the inferior 
gentry ; to secure a life in the public mind, in Geneva, in 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



61 



Scotland, wherever it gained dominion, it invoked intelli- 
gence for the people, and in every parish planted the 
common school.' 



SECTION III. 

The framers of our ecclesiastical system designed that it 
should neither be a monarchy, nor a democracy, but a 
republic. 

But we will pass on to the contemplation of our system 
in its ecclesiastical bearings. 

In framing her constitution, the great object before the 
church in this country, was, to present such general prin- 
ciples, as would, if honestly carried out, and faithfully 
maintained, secure, on the one hand, union, efficiency, and 
a well-ordered government, with the power of guarding 
against all traitorous designs upon the purity or peace of 
the church ; and at the same time, best uphold the just 
rights of the several churches, of individual ministers, and 
of the lay members of the church. Liberty, as far as it 
can be enjoyed without anarchy ; government, so far as 
it is compatible with liberty ; and the greatest possible 
enjoyment of both ; — this was the glorious aim and object, 
to secure which our fathers earnestly labored. Our eccle- 
siastical constitution was cradled in the spirit of liberty.^ 
Even bishop Hughes, filled to the very brim as he is with 
envenomed hate against our church, has confessed, that 
those tenets in the Westminster confession, which were 
hostile to civil liberty, ' were discarded, (by the American 
presbyterian church,) as being unsuitedto the soil of new- 
born liberty and of equal rights.' ' The confession of 

* See this well illustrated by Dr. Rice, in Evang. Mag. vol. ix, pp, 
26, 27, 28, 535, 536. 

6 



62 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



faith was forthwith amended,' he adds, ' to suit the con- 
stitution and the new order of things. ' # And he urges 
against us that very principle of freedom, by which we 
were ready, on discovering preexisting error, to abandon 
and subvert it.f Most strange infatuation ! Since he 
thus seals the everlasting condemnation of the system of 
popery, seeing that what it has been, it must ever remain, 
the same determined foe to civil and religious liberty. 
Presbyterians, however, never regarded their standards 
as either infallible or unchangeable. They are not our 
rale, either of faith or practice. They are not substituted 
for the scriptures, nor do they claim its authority. Any 
thing which has been admitted into them contrary to 
either civil or religious freedom, may, therefore, at any 
time be removed. And so it was in the present instance. 
Our standards were amended on the very points to which 
this author alludes, before the adoption of the American 
constitution, — not in consequence of it. The spirit of 
liberty and of republicanism, which they breathe, was the 
cause, and not the effect, of American liberty. The found- 
ers of the presbyterian church brought with them to this 
country an inextinguishable love of liberty, both civil 
and religious.! 

Speaking of the presbyterian settlers in the colony of 
South Carolina, long previous to the revolution, Dr. Hewett 
sa ys,§ — ' these ministers adopted this mode of religious 
worship, not only from a persuasion of its conformity to 
the primitive apostolic form, but also from a conviction of 
its being, of all others, the most favorable to civil liberty, 
equality, and independence.' This spirit was enkindled 
by the reformation, and taught to give expression to its 
views, by those solemn leagues and covenants into which 

* Breckinridge and Hughes's Discuss, p. 303. 
t Ibid, p. 289. 

J Dr. Rice, in Evang. Mag. p. 27. 

§ Hist, of S. C. Lond. 1779, vol. ii. p. 53. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



63 



the reformers in Germany, and in Scotland, and the puri- 
tans in England entered, for their mutual defence, for the 
overthrow of tyranny, and for the establishment of consti- 
tutional liberty, civil and religious. Let any one compare 
their language with that of our declaration of independ- 
ence, and he will perceive in the former the parents of 
the latter.^ 

Our system, of polity, says Dr. Rice,f was drawn up at a 
time when the general principles of government, and the 
great subject of human rights and privileges, was more tho- 
roughly and anxiously discussed than at any other period 
since the settlement of this country. It was during the 
time when the sages of America were employed in fram- 
ing the Federal constitution, and considering its merits* 
throughout the United States. And the men who drew 
up this plan of government for the church, were, many of 
them at least, men deeply versed in civil and ecclesiasti- 
cal history ; and who had borne no inconsiderable part in 
the eventful period which preceded. Perhaps this may 
in some measure account for the striking similarity which 
occurs in the fundamental principles of our polity, and the 
form of government adopted by the United States of 
America. Like that form of government, our polity is 
neither monarchical, nor democratical, but a democratic 
republic. 

' The Church,' writes Cartwright, in his Replye to 
Whitgift,t ' is governed with that kind of government 
which the philosophers that write of the best common- 
wealths affirm to be the best. For in respect of Christ, 
the head, it is a monarchy ; and in respect of the ancients 
and pastors, that govern in common, and with like author- 
ity amongst themselves, it is an aristocracy, or the rule of 

* See my Disc, on the Hist. Infl. and Results of the Westminst. Ass. 
McCrie on the Unity of the Ch. App. p. 156, &c. and Note to eh. iii. 
t Ibid, p. 28. 

t Price's Hist, of Nonconf. vol. i. p. 249. 



64 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



the best men ; and in respect that the people are not se- 
cluded but have their interest in church matters, it is a de- 
mocracy, or popular estate.' Such were the views enter- 
tained by the framers of our constitution. To constitute the 
church visible monarchical, was, in their opinion, to dethrone 
Christ, to proclaim rebellion against his supremacy and 
kingly rule, and to introduce tyranny and spiritual despot- 
ism. To constitute the church a pure democracy would 
have equally secured the destruction of her character, and 
have defeated her end ; since, as has been seen, such a 
form of government cannot, in the nature of things, long 
subsist. It were idle to call the perfectly independent gov- 
ernment of each christian society a government. It is no 
government at all, unless we will call every family a soci- 
ety, and its rulers a government. And even if the contra- 
ry were granted, most certainly no analogy could be found 
in such separate and disunited bodies to our confederated 
union, which is made up of all the parishes in each state, 
and of all the states throughout its entire extent of terri- 
tory. Our fathers, therefore, left our church under that 
constitution given her by her divine Head, by which we 
have seen she is a democratic republic. 

Our church is therefore the union of many churches ; — a 
union so devised as that, while each is left in a measure in- 
dependent, the whole are harmonized and made strong. 
The love of liberty is combined with the love of unity, the 
consolidated power of union, with the diffused power of 
popular freedom. It resembles the far-famed Grecian 
phalanx, in which each man was fully armed, and the 
whole so combined as to form one moving mass of skill 
and courage, bearing like a mountain against the opposing 
foe. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



65 



SECTION IV. 

All the 'principles of republicanism are found in our 
presbyterian system. 

Is equality of conditions the fundamental principle 
from which all our other civil and republican institu- 
tions flow ? This doctrine is imbedded in every principle, 
and is characteristic of, the presbyterian church. ' We lay 
it down,' says Dr. Rice, # one of the fathers of presbyteri- 
anism in this country, ' as a fundamental principle in our 
system of polity, that ecclesiastical power is by the Lord 
Jesus Christ vested in the church ; it belongs to the body 
of the faithful people.' Separate and distinct from the 
church, its officers have no independent or irresponsible 
authority.! The title of clergy we recognise as given by 
inspiration to all God's people,! and possessed by them 
until pope Higinus, and the succeeding prelates, appropria- 
ted it to themselves, condemning the rest of God's inher- 
itance to the 'injurious and alienate condition of laity ;' 
separating them by local partitions in their churches ; and 
thus excluding the members of Christ from all offices in 
the ecclesiastical body, ' as if they meant to sew up that 
Jewish veil which Christ, by his death on the cross, rent 
in sunder.' Against these usurpations, and this whole sys- 
tem of priestcraft, we earnestly protest. All such distinc- 
tions we repudiate. Every faithful disciple of the Lord 
Jesus we admit to wait upon the tabernacle, and to offer 
up spiritual sacrifice to God, in whatever office God and 
the congregation shall assign him. Presbyterianism, both 
as it regards the government of a particular church and of 
the church generally, is, therefore, based upon the principle 

* Evangelical Magaz. vol. ix. p. 535. 

t Ibid, p. 537. 

% By the apostle Peter. 

6* 



66 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



of representation. ' Our laws too are all written laws, 
made and administered by our own representatives. We 
have no rulers!* 

The support of the ministry, the expenses of the con- 
gregation, the advancement of every cause of christian be- 
nevolence, are all voluntary on the part of the people ; 
and the amount in each case assessed by the people them- 
selves, or by the conscience of each individual contributor. 
Our church property is all held in the name of trustees 
elected by the people ; and the temporal affairs of every 
congregation are managed by the people. 

Is it then the great characteristic of our republic, that all 
power is ultimately resident in, and derived from, the 
people, and this, not as the gift of man, but of God ? — 
What can be more analogous than the principles of our 
presbyterian constitution ? Do we not teach that the di- 
vine charter of the church was vested in the people and 
not in the clergy.f The church is, we contend, the whole 
body of the faithful, and not the officers or ministers of the 
church. These officers and ministers exist for the people, 
and not the people for them We place their right and 
authority of office, not in these offices themselves, but in 
the entire church, for whose benefit alone they are intrust- 
ed to them by Christ. $ 

The recognition of the rights of the people is one of those 
points upon which all presbyterian churches, both Luther- 
an and Calvinian, are agreed. The laity are regarded by 
them all as an integral part of the church. Their civil 
rights are represented as in all respects equal to those of 
the clergy. Laymen are associated with the clergy in all 
acts of ecclesiastical government and legislation. These 
churches also maintain and hold forth the right and duty 

* Bait. Lit. and Relig. Mag. Feb. 1814. 76. 

t See the Author's Work, Presbytery, and not Prelacy, the Script, and 
Primit. Pol. B. i. ch. iii. 
% Claude's Del of the Ref. vol. ii. pp. 241, 247, 263. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



67 



of the people to exercise private judgment, to read the 
scriptures, to partake of the cup in the sacrament, and to 
cherish liberty of conscience, and liberty of opinion* 

The presbyterian church, as reformed, and thus restor- 
ed to her ancient polity and liberty in the kingdom of Scot- 
land, as well as on the continent, was bottomed upon the 
cooperation and influence of the laity. An appeal to the 
people, in their own language, was the first step of her re- 
formers.! In this respect does she stand, confessedly, in 
contrast to the church of England. In presbyterian church- 
es the reformation was begun, continued, and effected by 
the people ; in the latter for the people and against their 
wishes.$ In the former, the people were the prime agents 
and inciters to the work ; in the latter, they were either 
passive subjects, or sullen remonstrants. In the former, 
the people reformed themselves, and erected a platform 
agreeable to their own views of what Christianity should 
and was designed to be ; in the latter, the people abjured 
or received their faith, according to the fashion of the court. 
It has always therefore been the reproach of the church of 
Scotland, ' with those who do not care for, or who dread 
the people, that she is too popular.'^ 



SECTION v. 

Presbytery is republican in its doctrine of the ministry. 

This republican character of our church, will be made 
apparent by considering her doctrine on the ministry. 

That her doctrine of the ministry is based upon the 
recognition of the original power and authority of the 

* Conder's Analytical View of all Religion, p. 247. 

t See Villers on the Ref. p. 240. Hence the improvement of mod- 
ern languages, pp. 241, 243. 

% This is insisted on as an excellency in tract of the Prot. Ep. 
Tr. Soc. quoted below. Lathbury, in his Hist, of Eng. Episcop. also 
urges this. 

§ Lect. on Headship of Christ, p. 46. 



68 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



people, we have seen. The church must and will have pow- 
er, for he who commands the mind will command the body. 
The question therefore is, to whom this power will be en- 
trusted ? To the clergy ? — then do you have the worst 
feature of popery. To the laity alone ? — then do you in- 
slave the clergy. To the clergy and laity combined, in 
their representative capacity, so that neither shall be ab- 
solute and supreme ? — this is the genius of presbytery, but 
cannot be reconciled with ' episcopacy.'* 

Our prelatical opponents maintain,! that all ecclesiasti- 
cal authority is committed directly to the christian ministry; 
that the ministry consists of an order of men differing from 
the laity ; and that it is their business to come between 
God and man to transact business with men for heaven : 
authoritatively to interpret for men the word of God ; and, 
by administering the sacraments, to give them assurance 
of salvation ; in a word, to be substitutes for Christ's per- 
son on earth. Now we hold this doctrine to be utterly 
popish and heretical; inconsistent with the nature of true 
religion, as a voluntary service ; incompatible with chris- 
tian liberty ; and well suited to give an undue influence 
to the ministers of religion. The general admission of 
these pretensions was one cause and that not the least ef- 
ficient, in producing the great corruption of the church. 
It brought about that subj ligation of the mind to ecclesias- 
tical power, which was one of the striking characteristics 
of the age of darkness, through which the church groped 
for nearly ten centuries. Nor does religion alone suffer by 
the admission of these pretensions. They clothe ecclesi- 
astics with a power to which nothing on earth is equal, and 
to which, after an unavailing struggle, every thing submits. 
What will we not surrender to a man, to whom we have 
surrendered the right of directing our conscience ; and 
whom we regard as invested with authority from heaven 

* See Lond. Quart. Rev. Dec. 1839, p. 74, where this is avowed, 
t Dr. Rice, in ibid, p. 535. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



69 



to receive us into the church, or to repel us from it ; to give 
us assurance of salvation, or cut us off from the hope of 
mercy ? 

Those who contend that there is an order of men in the 
christian church, who possess rights paramount to the 
church at large, and for their own benefit and honor, are 
guilty of the same sophistry with those who argue for the 
divine right of kings. They forget that these officers 
themselves are created for the benefit of the community, 
and that for this purpose alone, are they invested with pow- 
er. They confound their official with their personal capa- 
city ; their individual with their representative character ; 
and their dignity of station with their office, which is 
merely that of trustee ; ascribe to their own persons that 
which belongs to others, for whose benefit they are requir- 
ed to act as mere trustees, and thus make those to be the 
party, who are no more than trustees for that party. # And 
thus are they led to the absurd and dangerous conclusion, 
that the clergy possess supreme power in the church, hold 
their place in absolute independence of the people, and 
may exercise their functions at their own pleasure, and ac- 
cording to their own views of christian expediency. On 
the contrary, we maintain, that the ministers of Christ hold 
their offices solely for the benefit of the church, and in 
trust for Christ. Not that they are the mere creatures of 
the people, or can be removed by them at pleasure, since 
their office is of divine appointment, and clothed with di- 
vine authority. But that the people are bound to bring 
them to the law and the testimony ; to test their preach- 
ing by the standard of truth ; to submit to no ordinance 
which is not accordant to the written law ; and to contend 
earnestly against them, should they alter or detract from 
the truth as it is in Jesus 

The powers, then, of the christian association, belong to 



* Pol. Phil. p. 85, 



70 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



the whole body of its members, just as, in our republic, 
the exercise of power is delegated to its officers ; so that 
whatever they do, according to the written constitution, 
is clone by the members, and is valid and authoritative ; 
while on the other hand, whatever they may attempt con- 
trary to that constitution, is invalid, null, and void. Thus 
also obedience is in no case required to the determinations 
of the christian ministry, merely because they are theirs, 
but because they are consonant to the will of Christ, and 
are therefore binding. But if in any case the ministers 
teach for doctrines the commandments of men, the people 
are bound by the command of God to protest against them, 
and to bring them to the bar of the church. 

This dependence of the ministry on the church is impli- 
ed in our whole system.* It is from among the people 
they are originally taken. It is by the people they are ed- 
ucated. The people thus commend them as proper can- 
didates, to the presbytery, by whom they are examined 
and licensed. They are then sent forth among the peo- 
ple, that further opportunity may be given for examining 
their gifts, and fitness for the sacred office. Should they 
be found unacceptable to the people, and unsuited to the 
ministerial office, their licensure is withdrawn, and they re- 
turn to the body of the people, as private members of the 
church. In all this, the presbytery act as the divinely ap- 
pointed agents and trustees of the people, and for the in- 
terests of the whole church. 

This is further evident in our plan for the settlement of 
a minister. By the principles of our church, the ministry 
of any individual to a particular people, the allocation of 
the minister to that people, and the subjection of the peo- 
ple to him, can be effected by the presbytery, only through 
means of an expressed will on the part of the people, and 

* See these views ably presented by Claude, in his Def. of the Ref. 
vol. ii. pp. 240 - 243, 247, 263. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM, 



71 



call from them to that individual, to take pastoral charge 
over them. And while the presbytery, responsible to a 
higher court, in view of the interests of the church gener- 
ally, of which they are the guardians, may, in the face of 
such a call, refuse to sanction the settlement of any minis- 
ter, they cannot in any case settle him without it. The 
christian people have, as we believe, a divine right in the 
call of their ministers. 

The right of selecting those to whom we are to intrust 
the interests of ourselves and of our children, or from 
whom we are to derive important and most necessary 
instruction, may certainly be called inalienable, because 
inherent in, and most congenial to, our nature. But if 
this is true as it regards the physician for our bodily ail- 
ments ; the instructor of our youthful progeny ; the colle- 
giate inspectors and guardians of their maturer years ; or 
our counsel at the bar of earthly justice ; how much more 
important does it become, when the interests at stake are 
those of the never-dying soul ? The right, therefore, to 
choose those who shall minister unto us in holy things ; 
at whose hands we shall receive the bread of life ; and 
from whose stores of sacred learning and divine know- 
ledge we shall draw ; this surely is a privilege, which we 
might expect to be accorded to us, in the kingdom of God. 
Nor are we disappointed. For although it is not compe- 
tent for any man to qualify any other man for the sacred 
ministry ; nor for the laity to ordain and consecrate those 
who shall be over them in the Lord ; yet surely it is their 
right, and one which the laity are fully able to exercise, 
to select, among those adjudged to be proper incum- 
bents of that sacred office, those whom they believe to be 
best adapted to promote their spiritual welfare. This is 
a right to which the members of the apostolic and prim- 
itive churches were certainly admitted. It is a right which 
is most fully recognised in the system of presbyterianism, 
and by which that system is at once eminently distin- 



72 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



guished, and shown to be peculiarly adapted to the spirit 
of a free and independent people. 

It is not possible, of course, that every individual can 
be, in all cases, perfectly satisfied ; but this is much more 
likely to be the case where, as in our churches, all have 
an opportunity of expressing an opinion, and of exercising 
a right, and where the decision is finally made by a ma- 
jority necessarily overwhelming, than where such elections 
are made by a very few, or where no such elections are 
at all permitted. We, therefore, to use the words of 
Milton, # ' having already a kind of apostolical and ancient 
church- election in our state, what a perverseness would 
it be in us, of all others, to retain forcibly a kind of impe- 
rious and stately election in our church ? And what a 
blindness to think, that what is already evangelical, as it 
were by a happy chance in our polity, should be repug- 
nant to that which is the same, by divine command, in the 
ministry ? Thus then we see that our ecclesiastical and 
political choices, may consent and sort as well together, 
without any rupture in the state, as christians and free- 
holders.' 

' Puritanism,' t says Bancroft, ' conceded no such power 
to its spiritual guides ; the church existed independently of 
its pastor, who owed his office to its free choice ; the will 
of the majority was its law ; and each one of the brethren 
possessed equal rights with the elders. The right, exer- 
cised by each congregation, of electing its own ministers, 
was in itself a moral revolution ; religion was now with 
the people, not over the people. Puritanism exalted the 
laity.' 

* Wks. vol. i. p. 48. 

t Hist, of United States, vol. i. pp. 461, 462, 464. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM, 



SECTION VI. 

Presbytery is republican in its doctrine of ordination. 
Objections answered. 

Not less republican is our doctrine of ordination. It is,, 
in fact, the only form of ordination that is truly catholic 
and popular. It is most perfectly correspondent to that 
order pursued in the republic, in the induction of its magis- 
trates into office. Magistracy is a relation that must have 
a foundation, as well as the ministry. And just as the 
election and consent of the people are sufficient to consti- 
tute any individual a magistrate or representative, so does 
the essence of a call to the ministry consist in the call 
from God, or imparted fitness ; in the willingness of the 
individual to enter upon the office ; and in the consent of 
the people to whom he is to minister* And as the ap- 
pointed form of introduction to office designates or inaug- 
urates him, to whom the people have given the power or 
right, according to the constitution ; so does ordination 
designate and solemnly set apart to his high calling, the 
individual who, by the previous call of the people, has 
been found empowered to enter upon the work of the 
ministry. In both cases, the power or authority proceeds 
directly from the constitution, and not from the electors ; 
and thus do we regard the ministry as authorized, not by 
men, but by God. In both cases, the exercise of preestab- 
lished authority is given by the call and election of the 
people. In both cases does the form of introduction, (that 
is, in the case of the ministry, ordination,) suppose the 
ascertained right and title to the office, and is, therefore, 
no more than a solemn and becoming form of investiture. 

Now as ministers are, by their office, servants of the 

* Baxter's Disput. on Ch. Govt. p. 232, &c. Claude's Def. of the Ref. 
vol. ii. part iv. ch. hi. 

Ml 7 



74 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



whole church, and not of any one portion of it merely, it 
is necessary that the whole body of that church should 
have a voice in their admission to their trust. Were they 
to become the servants of other ministers only, then might 
they be elected, as among prelatists, by the ministry alone 
Or were they to become the pastors of a single congrega- 
tion, as on the original plan of the system of independency, 
then might one single church elect and ordain their pastor. 
But as christian ministers are to become ministers of the 
church at large, that church should have a voice in their 
ordination. And as they cannot manifestly have this in 
person, or in mass, they must, as in the analogous case of 
civil presidents, or legislators, exercise it through repre- 
sentatives. Now this the church at large does on the plan 
of presbyterianism, and on no other. By this the people, 
whom the minister is immediately to serve, try, examine, 
and prove him ; while the presby tery, composed of lay 
and ministerial delegates, act on behalf of the church at 
large ; represent their interests in the case ; try, examine, 
and prove the candidate, in the place of the whole people ; 
and when satisfied, induct him into office, in the name, 
and for the benefit, of the whole church. There is, there- 
fore, in the whole doctrine concerning the ministry, as laid 
down in the system of presbyterianism, a catholicity, a 
beauty, and a republicanism, which will be in vain looked 
for in any other. Our clergy are the ministers of the 
people, and empowered by them to serve them in the 
gospel. They are all of them sustained by the ennobling 
thought, that they are chosen by the people, and clothed 
by them with all the dignity and authority they possess. 
They all, too, stand upon the same platform of official 
equality. None of them are ' inferior,' and, as such, ' in- 
sulted, as in England, by the mockery of an election ;' 
nor as within the Roman jurisdiction, required to receive 
a master who is himself a slave. '* 

* The Churchman's Monthly Rev. June, 1841, p. 313. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



75 



Is it objected, that the clergy have a certain aristocrat - 
ical influence in the church, resulting from their character, 
studies, and relations ? Grant, that the ministry do con- 
stitute a check to the unreflecting passions and revolu- 
tionary spirit of the multitude ; is there nothing analogous 
to this in our republic? The magistrates, judges, and all 
the other officers of government, our representatives, 
senators, and lawyers, who share in its stability and 
wealth, serve also as a kind of aristocracy, to break off the 
wild deluge of fierce and anarchical democracy in the 
state, and as the connecting link and bond between the 
two great classes of society, the governing, and those for 
whom they govern.* And it is by the possession of these 
aristocratic elements, this elective and responsible nobility, 
not of wealth, but of office and dignity, that both the civil 
government of the land, and the ecclesiastical government 
of our church, are constituted republics, and are distin- 
guished from pure democracies. 



SECTION V I I . 

Presbytery eminently republican in its office of ruling elders. 
Objections answered. 

Let us now pass on to the consideration of the office of 
ruling elders in the presbyterian church, This office may 
be shown to be eminently republican, either as divinely in- 
stituted, or as having resulted from the principle of repre- 
sentation, the power of the church having been originally 
vested in the people. Republican society is based on the 
principle, that arbiters, magistrates, or representatives, cho- 
sen by the consent of the people, in all the several districts, 
shall judge and determine the causes of wrong and injury, 

* See Tocquev. vol. i. pp. 298, 300, 304, and vol. ii. p. 325. 



76 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



whether public or private. And thus does the free and 
solemn consent of the church, in the election of elders, 
give authority unto such persons, in subordination to the 
laws of the church. ' Hence,' says our Form of Govern- 
ment, ' ruling elders are properly the representatives of 
the people, chosen by them for the purpose of exercising 
government and discipline.'* 

As to the necessity for some such officers, who, that 
reflects, can doubt. Does the church, we ask, or does it 
not, consist of ministers only? If it does not — and we 
deny that in any one passage in the New Testament, the 
term can be understood of ministers merely — then by 
what rule of equity, human or divine, are the laity to be 
excluded from a share in the government of the church ? 
Or if, as we have proved, the power of the church was 
vested by Christ, in the whole body of the church,! who 
shall dare to exclude the laity from the proper exercise of 
that power. 

Now this undeniable fact, that the laity compose the 
great body of the church of Christ, was the chief ground 
upon which the necessity of the eldership has been ever 
urged. ' Our divines,' says Mr. George Gillespie, in his 
assertion of the government of the church of Scotland,$ 
' prove against papists, that some of these, whom they 
call laicks, ought to have a place in the assemblies of the 
church, by this argument among the rest; because, other- 
wise, the whole church could not be thereby represented. 
And it is plain enough, that the church cannot be repre- 
sented, except the hearers of the word, which are the far 
greatest part of the church, be represented. By the min- 
isters of the word, they cannot be represented, more than 
the burghs can be represented in parliament by the noble- 
men, or by the commissioners of shires ; therefore, by 

* Ch. v. See Paget's Def. of Presb. Ch. Govt. pp. 4, 5. 
t See Presbytery and not Prelacy the Scriptural and Primitive 
Polity, B. i. ch. iii. 
X Part i. cap. 4. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



77 



some of their own kind must they be represented, that is, 
by such as are hearers, and not preachers. Now some 
hearers cannot represent all the rest, except they have a 
calling and commission thereto ; and who can these be 
but ruling elders ? And again, when the council of Trent 
was first spoken of in the Diet at Wortimberg, Anno. 1522, 
all the estates of Germany desired of pope Adrian VI., 
that admittance might be granted, as well to laymen as 
to clergymen, and that not only as witnesses and specta- 
tors, but to be judges there. This they could not obtain, 
therefore they would not come to the council, and pub- 
lished a book, where they allege this for one cause of 
their not coming to Trent, because none had voice there 
but cardinals, bishops, abbots, generals, or superiors of 
orders, whereas laicks also ought to have a decisive voice 
in councils. If none but the ministers of the word should 
sit and have a voice in a synod, then it could not be a church 
representative ; because the most part of the church (who 
are the hearers and not the teachers of the word) are not 
represented in it. A common cause ought to be conclu- 
ded by common voices. But that which is treated of in 
councils, is a common cause, pertaining to many particular 
churches. Our divines, when they prove against papists, 
that the election of ministers, and the excommunication 
of obstinate sinners, ought to be done by the suffrages of 
the whole church, make use of this same argument; 
that which concerneth all, ought to be treated of and 
judged by all.' 

So argued one of Scotland's noble sons, and a repre- 
sentative in the Westminster Assembly of Divines. And 
such, also, are the general views of the presbyterian 
church.^ In nothing, therefore, does she proclaim her 
republican character more fully and undeniably, than in 

* See Professor Jameson's Cyp. Isot. pp. 554 - 556, and 517, 
540-544. 

7 # 



78 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



her ruling elders. They are not ministers. They are not 
presbyters. But they are delegates from the people, 
officers chosen by them ; and representatives, to whom 
they have transferred their power, to whom they have 
committed their interests, and who are expected to act for 
the best good of the whole body of the christian people. 
They constitute, therefore, with the pastor of every church, 
the senate, or the house of representatives of that church. 
They also sit, vote, and act, in full terms of equality, with 
the ministers, in all the other courts ; so that, in them all, 
the people are fully and freely represented. 

But it may be said, that in the presbyterian form, ruling 
elders usurp the power of the people at large, and, in 
fact, constitute another privileged class* But these 
elders are elective. They are chosen by the people, and 
from among themselves, and have no power but that 
intrusted to them under the laws. Now the purest 
republic may delegate legislative, executive, and judi- 
cial power to certain individuals, or bodies, leaving to the 
community no more than the choice of these ruling offi- 
cers, and still the government remain purely republican, 
and not at all mixed.f It has only delegated its power 
to representatives. No individual in the community 
has power independent of the people. Nor have 
the people shared their powers with others, but only 
deputed to others the power of exercising their authority. 
And in like manner, ruling elders, being the chosen depu- 
ties of the people, and exercising their powers in full 
responsibility to the people, are perfectly accordant with 
our republican institutions, and to the supreme power of 
the body of the church. 

* Hooker, B. v. Decl. § 8, vol. ii. p. 8, Keble's ed. 
tPoht. Phil. p. 77, Loud. 1842. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



79 



SECTION VIII. 

Presbytery eminently republican, also, in its various 
ecclesiastical judicatories. 

We come now to notice the various ecclesiastical 
courts by which the laws of the presbyterian church are 
administered. 

In the most free states, it is common for persons to 
be deputed by the people, who together constitute an 
assembly, representing the whole ; and it is usual for the 
whole, in such cases, to consider themselves bound by the 
decision of this general body. Such are the town coun- 
cils, the state legislatures, and the congress in these 
United States. The importance of such bodies cannot 
be over estimated. Governments usually fall a sacrifice 
to impotence or tyranny. These are the Scylla and 
Charybdis, against which they have to watch. And their 
free assemblies are the pilots by whom they are to be 
kept awake to danger, and guided safely through it. # 
With free deliberative, legislative assemblies, liberty, 
civil and religious, has coexisted or expired. It has 
also been shown by president Adams,f from a review of 
the history of all the mixed and free governments which 
have ever existed from the earliest records of time, that 
single assemblies, without check or balance, or a govern- 
ment with all authority collected into one centre, accord- 
ing to the notion of Mr. Turgot, were visionary, violent, 
intriguing, corrupt, and tyrannical dominations of majori- 
ties over minorities, and which have uniformly and rap- 
idly terminated their career in a profligate despotism. It 
is most clear, that tyranny would unavoidably increase 

* See Kent's Comment, vol. i. p. 233. 
t In ibid, p. 223. 



bO 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



with equality, unless the members of the community 
are protected by such associations, as will enable them 
to resist a power, against which, single-handed, they could 
never prevail. Every wealthy, talented, and powerful 
individual, forms in reality the head of a body, composed 
of all under his influence, and by which he rules the rest. 
And it is only by having around them the shield of such 
legal assemblies, the poor and less influential members 
of society can stand upon their rights. 

Look now at the presbyterian form of church govern- 
ment. Its fundamental principle is, that the government 
of the church rests upon delegated bodies, composed of 
clerical and lay members.* It demands, therefore, con- 
gregational, district, provincial, and general assemblies 
of such members; that is, church sessions, presbyteries, 
and a general assembly. By these local associations, 
and general confederations, national, as well as local 
freedom, are promoted and secured. In our churches, 
and church sessions, we see, that parish system of local 
government, to which Tocqueville looks as the unques- 
tionable germ and model of our American institutions.! 
In our presbyteries we have the district system, the 
townships, and municipal bodies by which the public 
spirit is preserved, and which ' constitute the strength of 
free nations.'^ In our synods, we find the legislatures 
of our several states, which are justly regarded as the 
bulwarks of their liberty. And in our general assembly, we 
have the national ecclesiastical congress. Each of these 
courts is bound to regulate itself by the laws of the great 
community ; while not one of those laws is to be entered 
on the statute-book, till the consent of those whom it is 

* See the analogy between these, and republican principles, drawn 
out by Brown, in his Vind. of Presb. Ch. Govt. Edinb. 1812,' pp. 15, 
174, 175. 

tTocquev. i. pp. 28, 40, 85. 

jTocquev. i. 62, and ch. 5, generally. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



81 



to control has been asked, through the medium of their 
legitimate judicatories.* Each church is a young repub- 
lic, having its popular assemblies, its delegated repre- 
sentatives, its local tribunal, its independent by-laws, and 
the entire and exclusive management of all matters 
which are purely local. Each congregation is thus a com- 
monwealth, as truly as each synod. It has its own 
important and independent sphere of action, and is a type 
of the general government of the whole church. Here 
the laity — the people — role and reign. The minister 
stands alone, one against a host ; chosen by the free votes, 
supported by the voluntary contribution, and made useful 
only by the esteem and confidence of the people, he 
ministers to them in holy things. In the session he is 
one in association with several, and can exercise no more 
than a moral influence. 

By the constitution of these church sessions all churches 
are equal among themselves, and all the members of each 
church equal to every other;! so that every member of our 
church is assured, if in any way liable to discipline, of a 
fair hearing, before a body composed of his fellow mem- 
bers, and of his own order, and from whose judgment he 
may appeal to the higher tribunal of the presbytery.% 
To confine the decisions of all cases which must arise 
in every well-ordered society, to the clergymen, or to the 
clergy alone, and thus to consolidate in their hands, the 
entire government of the body, is contrary to the very 
first law of all society, which provides that no man shall 
be judge 411 his own cause. On this principle, there is 
no society, no freedom, no protection from oppressive and 
despotic rule, no bulwark against that resistless tide, 
with which power, when lodged in the hands of a few 
weak and imperfect men, encroaches upon the territory, 

*Dr. Muir's Disc, in Commem. of 1638, p. 15. 
tSee Brown's Vind. of Presb. Ch. Govt. p. 167. 
jSee Jones's Wks. vol. ii. p. 421, on the value of this arrangement. 



82 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



and the just rights, of all who are opposed to it. Nor can 
that ecclesiastical system be possibly republican, or con- 
sonant to the genius of our free commonwealths, which 
subjugates the laity to the clergy, and the inferior clergy, 
as they are ignobly called, to the higher, and which 
attaches a supremacy of power to an aristocratic class. 

But in the system of presbyterianism there is no privil- 
eged order or class, as it regards their personal rights. 
No single member of the church is excluded from an 
active interest in the affairs of the spiritual republic. In 
its temporalities, all its supporters have a voice. In all 
its spiritualities, every qualified male member has an 
equal interest and voice. In every ecclesiastical court, 
from the church session, which is the lowest, to the gen- 
eral assembly, which is the highest, the chosen repre- 
sentatives of the people sit as coequal members with 
their ministerial brethren. And it is morally impossible, 
for any act to be passed, in any judicatory of our church, 
or enforced in any portion of it, which is adverse to the 
interests and to the wishes of a majority of its members. 

The spiritual affairs, so far as they appertain to the 
district within its territory, and to the interests of all the 
churches included in it, are in like manner conducted by 
our presbyteries, to which any one aggrieved by the 
course pursued in the churches may appeal, and have 
his cause heard before an impartial tribunal. In the 
same way do our synods take order for securing the peace, 
unity, and prosperity, of all the churches within their wider 
limits. The church being divided* 1 into many separate 
congregations, these need mutual counsel and assistance, 
in order to preserve soundness of doctrine, and regularity 
of discipline, and to enter into common measures for 
promoting knowledge, and religion, and for preventing 
infidelity, error, and immorality. Hence arise the impor- 



*Form of Govt. cii. x. § 1. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



83 



tance and usefulness of presbyterial and synodical 
assemblies.' 

Each of these bodies possesses certain sovereign and in- 
dependent rights, under the constitution, with which the 
others cannot interfere. In our synods, and the states 
over which they usually preside, we have complete pres- 
byterian republics ; so that were they in any case to be- 
come independent of all the rest, as they may at any 
moment, they would not be found wanting in any prin- 
ciple of presbyterianism. How perfect the analogy to 
our several states in the civil commonwealth. But as 
those states have found it to be for their individual in- 
terests, and the general prosperity of the country, to form 
that confederation which constitutes the government of 
the United States ; so have our several synods been led, 
by the strong impulse of christian union, to constitute the 
general assembly. This body represents all the partic- 
ular churches of the denomination, and constitutes the 
bond of union, peace, correspondence, and mutual confi- 
dence among all our churches. Like the federal govern- 
ment, it is clothed with all the powers necessary to rep- 
resent and carry out the interests of each synod, and the 
conduct of those affairs which cannot be administered so 
well by the synods separately, and which regard the uni- 
ted interests of all the churches, presbyteries, and synods. 
The cause of missions, foreign and domestic, and the 
publication of such works as are of general utility and 
importance, are thus intrusted in a special manner, to 
the wise conduct of this general assembly. And just as 
congress is not restricted from any constructive assump- 
tion of power, which is essential to the complete enjoy- 
ment and exercise of that which is formally given, and to 
the furtherance of the beneficent ends of the government,^ 

* Kent's Comment, vol. i. p. 214. ' A government too restricted for 
the due performance of its high trusts, will either become insignificant 
or be driven to usurpation.' Ibid. The want of this was the cause of 
the weakness of the confederation. 



84 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



so has onr assembly felt justly authorized to create boards 
or agencies, for the efficient discharge of its high duties 
in evangelizing our own country and the heathen world. 
Laws and regulations whose force and operation are to 
continue, are made in a little time, and hence there is no 
necessity for the legislative body to be always in session.^ 
But since these regulations need perpetual execution and 
attendance, therefore it is necessary that there should be 
a power always in being, which may carry out the laws 
when made. And hence is the executive separated 
from the legislative power in our republic.! Now, in per- 
fect correspondence with these established principles, the 
executive power, in carrying out all its designs, is com- 
mitted by our general assembly to its several boards, 
which are, in fact, so many executive committees. And 
as the legislature cannot always foresee and provide for 
all that may be useful to the country, and the executive 
is empowered to make use of its power for the public 
good, even in cases for which the law has made no 
special provision, until the legislature can assemble and 
provide for the occasion ;$ so also are these boards or 
committees necessarily empowered to take all measures 
which are required, in order to carry out the objects 
intrusted to them, under a responsibility always to the 
general assembly. 

Again, as the judiciary is appointed to pass upon any 
action of any member of the confederacy, which seems to 
be contrary to the laws of the union ; so have we in our 
written constitution, and the power there secured to our 
presbyteries to decide by a majority against any usurpa- 
tion of authority on the part of the assembly — our 
judiciary. 

Further, in the government of the United States, an 

* Locke on Govt. ch. xii. § 143 and § 153. 
t See ibid, ch. xii. § 144 and § 153. 
X Ibid, ch. xiv. § 159-161. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 85> 

ultimate arbiter of interpretation is provided in the su- 
preme court. And thus also in our church we have the 
general assembly, a court composed of delegates from 
all portions of the church, and which, in all cases of 
doubtful disputation as to the true meaning and intent of 
the constitution, is empowered to give an authorized ex- 
position of the law, which becomes binding on the whole 
church, unless rejected by the contrary decision of a ma- 
jority of all its presbyteries, that is, by the people, speak- 
ing through these primary assemblies. Although, there- 
fore, our general assembly has great legislative power, 
yet it has no executive power. Its laws go down to our 
synods, presbyteries, and churches, to be executed by 
them ; and, should they imply any thing arbitrary or uncon- 
stitutional, their force may there be at once stayed, as by 
so many breakwaters, against the power of tyranny. 



SECTION IX. 

Presbytery republican in several other particulars, with 
testimonies in its favor. 

The analogy, therefore, between our ecclesiastical 
assemblies and those of the republic, is as complete as, in 
the nature of things, it could be. Were it necessary it 
might be still further enlarged. We will only briefly 
allude to some other particulars. Each house of civil 
representatives is sole judge of the election return, and 
of the qualifications of its members ; # and so is it with 
our assembly. The house of representatives choose 
their own speaker ;t and so do our assemblies elect their 
moderator. The proceedings of all our civil assemblies 
are public ;t so are those of our ecclesiastical courts. 

* Kent, i. 234. t Ibid, p. 237. J Ibid, p. 237, 238. 

8 



86 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM 



None of the officers or members of our civil legislatures 
are inviolable ; neither are there any privileged members 
or classes among us, who are either above the law, or 
screened from its attack.^ The members of all our civil 
assemblies are equally delegated by the people, and repre- 
sent them ; and so are the members of every ecclesias- 
tical body. Each state puts faith in the acts of every 
other state ; and so does every ecclesiastical assembly in 
the acts of every other. Just as new states are admitted 
to the union, so are new synods received into our eccle- 
siastical confederation. As each several state elects its 
governor annually, so does every synod and assembly 
annually appoint its presiding head. 

The following testimony to this republican character of 
our form of government, though given by an enemy, and 
designed to imply censure, is a reluctant admission of the 
truth in the case. ' Yet,' says bishop Hughes,! ' though 
it is my privilege to regard the authority exercised by the 
general assembly as usurpation,! still I must say, with 
every man acquainted with the mode in which it is or- 
ganized, that, for the purposes of popular and political 
government, its structure is little inferior to that of the 
congress itself. In any emergency that may arise, the 
general assembly can produce a uniformity among its 
adherents to the furthest boundaries of the land. It acts 
on the principle of a radiating centre, and is without an 
equal or a rival among the other denominations of the 
country.'^ ' Here/ to use the words of Alexander Hen- 
dersonjl 'there is a superiority without tyranny, for no 

* Kent, i. p. 288. 

t Breckinridge and Hughes's Discussion, p. 80. 

% We know that laymen never vote in Romish councils. This is a 
presbyterian heresy. 

§ How king James and all the arbitrary kings of England dreaded 
our general assemblies, and their influence, in producing a spirit of 
liberty, we know. See Lect. on the Headship of Christ, pp. 66, 70, 80. 
See p. 13. 

|[ See in Lorimer's Manual of Presbytery, p. 257. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



87 



minister hath a papal or monarchical jurisdiction over his 
own flock, far less over other pastors, and over all the 
congregations of a large diocese. Here, then, is parity 
without confusion and disorder, for the pastors are in 
order before the elders, and the elders before the dea- 
cons ; every particular church is subordinate to the pres- 
bytery, the presbytery to the synod, and the synod to the 
national assembly. One pastor, also, hath priority of es- 
teem before another for age, for zeal, for gifts, for good 
deservings of the church, each one honoring him whom 
God hath honored, and as he beareth the image of God, 
which was to be seen amongst the apostles themselves. 
But none hath preeminence of title, or power, or juris- 
diction above others ; even as in nature one eye hath not 
power over another, only the head hath power over all, 
even as Christ over his church. And, lastly, here there is 
a subjection without slavery, for the people are subject 
to the pastors and assemblies ; yet there is no assembly 
wherein every particular church hath not interest and 
power, nor is there any thing done but they are, if not ac- 
tually, yet virtually, called to consent unto it.' 

Such is the correspondence between the doctrines of 
our church, our ministry, our eldership, our ecclesiasti- 
cal assemblies, and the essential principles and charac- 
teristic outlines of this great and free commonwealth. 
From the delineation we have given of our system, we 
may challenge the inquirer, to bring it to the test of every 
principle which we have laid down as a constituent ele- 
ment in republicanism. Sure we are that no discordance 
will be found between the two, when fairly considered ; 
but a most entire and perfect similarity. 



88 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



SECTION X . 

Presbytery republican in its creeds; in its protection of 
minorities ; in the framing of its laivs ; in its universal 
suffrage ; and in its simplicity and opposition to all un ■ 
necessary forms. 

Let us, however, call attention to a few additional 
points, in which the analogy will be as strikingly man- 
ifest. 

Presbyterians are attached to creeds ; that is, they be- 
lieve that certain great truths and principles in religion 
must be fixed, certain, and established. But this is not 
inconsistent, as is ignorantly affirmed, with the spirit of 
republicanism, but is, on the contrary, necessary to true 
freedom. ' Obviously,' says Tocqueville,* ' without such 
common belief no society can prosper; say rather, no so- 
ciety does subsist ; for without ideas held in common, 
there is no common action, and without common action 
there may still be men, but there is no social body. In 
order that society should exist, and, a fortiori, that a so- 
ciety should prosper, it is required that all the minds of 
the citizens should be rallied, and held together by certain 
prominent ideas ; and this cannot be the case, unless 
each of them sometimes draws his opinion from the com- 
mon source, and consents to accept certain matters of 
belief at the hands of the community. The public has, 
therefore, among a democratic people, a singular power, 
of which aristocratic nations could never so much as con- 
ceive an idea ; for it does not persuade to certain opin- 
ions, but it enforces them, and infuses them into the fac- 
ulties, by a sort of enormous pressure of the minds of all 
upon the reason of each. In the United States the ma- 



* Vol. ii. p. 7. See also pp. 8-10. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



69 



jority undertakes to supply a multitude of ready-made 
opinions for the use of individuals, who are thus relieved 
from the necessity of forming opinions of their own. 
Every body, then, adopts great numbers of theories on 
philosophy, morals, and politics, without inquiry upon 
public trust/ 

Such established opinions are the common law of the 
land and of the church. In both, alike, they protect the 
minority from that capricious tyranny of the democracy, 
which otherwise would oppress them. In both cases, 
also, these fundamental principles are embodied in the 
public constitutions, and are thus, in a measure, immu- 
table and fixed. 

Again, in the republic, power is determined by num- 
bers, and yet even the minority are protected by the 
charter of the constitution ; and so in our church the same 
principle prevails, since it is fundamental to our compact, 
that the majority shall be ruled by the constitution, and 
all by the Bible. We have one law, and one interpreta- 
tion of the law.* 

* See Dr. Junkins's Inaugural Address, p. 39. To such a political 
creed, and to its noble defence by an oppressed and persecuted 
minority, we owe our present liberties. ' In the times of Charles, a 
band of independent and public-spirited men were raised up. Their 
aim was to recover the nation's forgotten liberties and privileges. 
And in what manner did they act % They fell back upon the consti- 
tution of the country ; they had recourse to statutes and acts which 
were declared to be perpetual ; and these they plead in opposition to 
all succeeding innovations. There was an old record on which the 
dust of years had gathered ; this they brought from its resting-place ; 
they studied the provisions of Magna Charta, and for these provisions 
they determined to contend, and to contend for them on the ground 
that they were embodied in this charter, which denned the country's 
constitution. The authority of this record they maintained against 
all contrary changes. Charles could plead precedents and long-con- 
tinued usage, and the authority of judges, in support of many of his 
measures. Yet Hampden, and Pym, and Hollis, resisted these 
measures, and the ground of their resistance was, that these measures 
were contrary to the provisions of Magna Charta. Charles had the 
authority of his law-courts for the measure which he pressed, but 
these men set the authority of the constitution against the authority 
of the law-courts, and one of the leading grievances of which they 
complained was this, ' the judgment of lawyers against our liberty. 1 



90 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM ; 



It is another essential principle of all true liberty, that 
no man should be bound by laws, canons, or decrees, over 
which, in their origination, and in their continuance, he 
has no control, by himself, or his legal representative. 
And, hence, in England, the canons of 1603 have never 
been recognised in law as binding upon the laity, because 
they were not represented in the convocation by winch 
they were passed.^ Now this, also, is the law of our 
church. To no rule or canon is any part of the clergy or 
laity required to pay respect, which has not been con- 
firmed by their assent, either given in person, or by their 
delegated representatives. As thus securing in all their 
amplitude, the rights of all its members, the constitutional 
bulwarks of our church, stand as a proud monument on 
which their liberties are inscribed, and which pledge 
them to be free, and to hold the equal, universal, civil, 
and religious rights of all other men, denominations, and 
people.! 

Universal suffrage in the choice of its legislators is also 
considered a prominent feature of republicanism ; and 
universal suffrage amongst communicants, in the choice 
of their clergy, is equally necessary to ecclesiastical 
republicanism. But this principle, we have seen, is fun- 
damental to our system, and one for which the church of 
Scotland is, at this moment, willing to run the hazard of 
the most imminent peril and loss.$ Our system consti- 

* White's Mem. of Prot. Ep. Ch. p. 78. 

t Breckinridge and Hughes's Discussion, p. 146. 

% The Scotch church has declared herself republican, in the ecclesi- 
astical sense, insisting upon universal suffrage amongst communicants 
in the choice of the clergy. If the movement party in Scotland is 
maintaining the right of election for the people — that in England is 
demanding it for the bishops. The electoral rights of the people are 
never mentioned in the Oxford conclave. There, they treat only of 
the rights of the successors of the apostles, which protestantism has 
invaded and Catholicism is determined to restore. Here the two 
churches are directly opposed. They are the ecclesiastical counter- 
parts of radicals and tories — the radicals being the Scotch and the 
tories the English divines. In perfect harmony with this distinctive 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



91 



tutes the people umpires in determining the comparative 
merits of preachers, and in deciding who shall rule over 
them. It is a system worked by popular power, which 
bestows a kind of franchise on all who become parties to 
it, and which is, therefore, dependent upon popular intel- 
ligence. There must, therefore, as in the republic, be 
some limits to the exercise of this franchise ; and this is 
found in the qualifications laid down for membership in 
the church, and which imply such a measure of discern- 
ment and goodness, as is necessary to the exercise of that 
franchise, and to the privileges of this ' holy and equal 
aristocracy.'* 

Simplicity, and an opposition to all unnecessary forms 
and external observances is, we have found, another prin- 
ciple of republicanism. Nothing is more repugnant to it, 
than a subjection to forms — nothing more unimpressive, 
than ceremonial observances. That religion, therefore, 
which hopes to amalgamate and to become identified with 
a republican form of government, must assume few exter- 
nal observances, and vulgar, superstitious pageantry, dress, 
and show. ' 1 have shown,'t says Tocqueville, ' that no- 
thing is more repugnant to the human mind, in an age of 
equality, than the idea of a subjection to forms. Men liv- 
ing at such times are impatient of figures ; to their eyes 
symbols appear to be the puerile artifice which is used to 

character, the Scotch divines are aiming at the most simple and unos- 
tentatious finale for their ecclesiastical reformation — the simple preach- 
ing of the word! The English regard the preaching as a matter of 
minor importance ; considering rites and ceremonies, with ostentatious 
display in dresses, and plate, and statues, and pictures, and genu- 
flexions, and music, as the primary, whilst preaching is only a second- 
ary, subject of consideration. In other words, the Scotch are argu- 
mentative, and aim at the full establishment of a system which will 
encourage the exercise of judgment and criticism amongst the people, 
by constituting them judges of ministers, and umpires in determining 
the comparative merits of preachers and doctrines. Letter from Eng- 
land, in N. Y. Journal of Commerce. 

* Milton. See Vaughan's Congreg. p. 11. 

t Vol. ii. pp. 25, 26. 



92 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



conceal or set off truths which should more naturally be 
bared to the light of open day ; they are unmoved by cer- 
emonial observances, and they are predisposed to attach 
a secondary importance to the details of public worship. 
I firmly believe in the necessity of forms which fix the 
human mind in the contemplation of abstract truths, and 
stimulate its ardor in the pursuit of them, while they in- 
vigorate its power of retaining them steadfastly. Nor do 
I suppose that it is possible to maintain a religion without 
external observances ; but on the other hand, I am per- 
suaded that in the ages upon which we are entering, it 
would be peculiarly dangerous to multiply them beyond 
measure ; and that they ought rather to be limited to as 
much as is absolutely necessary, to perpetuate the doc- 
trine itself, which is the substance of religion of which the 
ritual is only the form. A religion which should become 
more minute, more peremptory, and more surcharged with 
small observances at a time in which men are becoming 
more equal, would soon find itself reduced to a band of fa- 
natical zealots in the midst of an infidel people.' Now is 
not this a portraiture of the presbyterian church in contrast 
with prelatic and Romish churches ? 

' The worship of the Lutherans,' says Mr. Villers,^ ' and 
still more that of the Calvinists, is simple and strict. A 
stone, a cloth, form the altar ; a pulpit and benches are all 
the decorations necessary to the temple. Here nothing is 
thought of but the gospel, and some divine songs on moral- 
ity and the christian duties, sung by the congregation. All 
is devoid of ornament, pomp, and elegance. The priest is 
clothed in a modest black garment: no veneration of a 
saint or an angel, and still less of their images, is recom- 
mended to pious souls. It might be said, that this wor- 
ship is melancholy and dry in comparison with that of the 
Catholics, if, indeed, an assembly of persons collected 



* Villers on the Ref. p. 249. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



93 



to worship in common, can really correspond with the idea 
of melancholy. Nevertheless, it is certain, that this wor- 
ship can elevate the soul, and tends to disenchant the im- 
agination.' 

And who can witness this form of presbyterian wor- 
ship, which has been termed ' the undeflowered and un- 
blemishable simplicity of the gospel,'^ and which is the 
very embodiment of the republican spirit, — and then con- 
trast it with that ' false-whited lawny resemblance of the 
gospel, like that air -born Helena in the fables, made by 
the sorcery of prelates,'! without feeling that these lat- 
ter, by their caps and hoods, their gowns and surplices, 
their belts and ornaments, their rochets and scapulaires, 
their crosses and pictures, their dishes and censers, their 
little bells and big bells, their singing-boys and singing- 
girls, their train-bearers and worshippers, their bowings 
and crossings, their risings and sitting down, their kneel- 
ings and prostrations, their paradings and genuflexions, 
and all the pride, pomp, and circumstance, which make up 
the sabbath desecration of our Romish temples, do actual- 
ly, and in the experience of a large proportion of the wor- 
shippers, drive holiness out of living into lifeless things, 
and seduce men to the worship of the creature more than 
the creator, who is a Spirit, and to be worshipped only in 
spirit and in truth. Certain it is, that even Tocqueville 
positively affirms, of our republican form of government, 
that there is nothing ' hierarchical in its constitution 
and if, as he gives reason to believe, the gradual develop- 
ment of the principle of equality is now the law of provi- 
dence^ we may confidently hope either that other sys- 
tems must conform to presbytery, or that presbytery will 
be finally triumphant. 

* Milton's Wks. vol. i. p. 143. 
t Milton, ibid. 
% Vol. i. p. 73. 
§ Ibid. p. 4. 



94 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



SECTION XI. 

Presbytery eminently republican in having originated and 
secured in this country the separation of religion from 
politics, and- of the church from the state. 

But there yet remains one most important feature in 
this wonderful analogy. The separation of religion from 
politics, and of the church from the state, are essential to 
the true development of both ; to universal tolerance by 
the state of all religions in it, and of all religions by one 
another ; — and therefore to all civil and religious liber- 
ty.^ Such, as we have seen, was the original appointment 
of Christ, and such are the existing principles on which 
our church is founded.! It was to the controversies, ori- 
ginated by the Puritans, and carried on by those who ex- 
tended their views, we owe whatever distinct separation 
has been made between the civil and ecclesiastical pow- 
ers. Previous to that time ' the clergy generally claimed 
their tithes by divine right' • In no long time after/ 
says bishop Warburton, in his ' Alliance,' ' the clergy, 
in general, gave up this claim.' ' And I think,' says he, 
1 the priest's olivine right to a tenth part, and the king's 
divine right to the other nine, went out of fashion togeth- 
er. And thenceforward, the church and the crown agreed 
to claim their temporal rights from the laws of the land * 
only.'-t 

Indeed, all the efforts to attain this independence can 
be traced, by an uninterrupted chain, to the first reformers. 
' Luther,' says VillersJ ' brought the Saxon church, in 
what relates to its internal government, to the democracy 
of the first age, and the hierarchy to a moderate system of 

* See the Church Independent of the Civil Govt., and Tocquev.vol 
i. pp. 339, 340. 
t See above, p. 
% Wks. vol. vii. p. 225. 
§ On the Ref.p. 97. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 95 



subordination. The churches which have followed Cal- 
vin, are still more democratically constituted. But the 
clergy no longer form a civil corporation in any of them. 
Some public marks of honor and deference, are the only 
privileges of the ministers ; according to the words of their 
masters, they give unto Csesar that which is Csesar's, by 
rendering unto God that which they owe him.' 

The independence of the church, and its entire separa- 
tion from the civil government, was clearly perceived and 
taught by Calvin, though the age was not prepared to act 
upon it. c But he,' says Calvin, # ' who knows how to dis- 
tinguish between the body and the soul, between this pres- 
ent transitory life, and the future eternal one, will find 
no difficulty in understanding, that the spiritual kingdom 
of Christ, and civil government, are things very different 
and remote from each other. It is a Jewish folly, there- 
fore, to seek and include the kingdom of Christ under the 
elements of this world.' 

What Calvin taught, Calvinists were the first to prac- 
tice. Look at our standards, as they have been al- 
ready brought to view.f How full, how forcible, how 
earnest are they, in the proclamation of this great truth. 
But these views, it may be said, are mere hypocritical 
pretence. On the contrary, Dr. Miller has well said, 
' presbyterians in this country would rather be persecu- 
ted by the state, than be in alliance with it' But such 
sentiments, it may be alleged, were forced upon our church 
by the revolution, and the omnipotence of public opinion. 
On the contrary, they were embodied in our standards be- 
fore the revolution, as the free and unforced sentiments of 
American presbyterians, and as the exponent of those 
principles, which nerved their arms, when, to a man, they 
were found fighting under the banner of independence. 

* Instit. B. iv. ch. xx. vol. ii. p. 561. 

t See Presbytery, and not Prelacy, B. iii. ch. v. and vi. and Conf. of 
Faith, ch. xxiii. and Form of Gov. Prel. Princ. 



96 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



But after all, it may be urged, this is only boasting, and it 
must be affirmed, that since, by our constitution, any other 
principles are rendered nugatory, their proclamation by the 
presbyterian church was a matter of necessity, and not of 
choice.' But the very contrary can be proved to be the 
truth. Presbyterians forced upon the state the doc- 
trine OF THE ENTIRE INDEPENDENCE BETWEEN CHRISTI- 
anity and the civil power. presbyterians first fro- 
claimed this doctrine on these american shores, 
presbyterianism was opposed by episcopacy, in her 
efforts to establish this doctrine, in virginia. and 
the universal establishment of this doctrine 
throughout these united states, and in the consti- 
tution, was the result of the movement made by 
Presbyterians. # 

These positions can all be sustained by evidence, which 
is as unimpeachable as that which attests the progress of 
the revolution itself; and although the whole credit of this 
cause has been given to Jefferson, it can be shown, that as 
the apostate Julian plumed himself with feathers stolen 
from the wing of Christianity, so did this modern apostate 
pride himself in doctrines taught him by that very sect, 
which he afterwards ' hated, with a perfect hatred.' 

The Rev. Dr. Lang, of New South Wales, who visited 
this country a few years since, and has given the result of 
his observation in a very interesting volume,! examined 
into this subject, and has published all the original docu- 
ments, as procured from the Library of the State House 
in Richmond. As the result of his inquiries, he states, $ that 
instead of the American clergy * having been opposed to 
the voluntary system, as they are supposed to have been, 

* The Presbyterians in Ireland opposed all establishments, in 1787. 
See the bishop of Cloyne on, in Lond. Christ. Obs. for 1838, p. 807. 

t Religion and Education in America, by John Dunmore Lang, 
D. D. Lond. 1840. 

t p. 92. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 97 

the fact is, that the original introduction of the voluntary 
system was wholly and solely the work of a numerous and' 
influential portion of the American clergy themselves ;: 
and so far from the separation of the church and state 
having been carried with a high and revolutionary hand, 
over the influence and opposition of the sacerdotal order,, 
through the mere political manceuvering of Mr. Jefferson,, 
the fact is, that the legislature of Virginia, in which that 
important measure was originally carried, and through 
whose influence and example it was subsequently extend- 
ed gradually over the whole union, was itself borne into 
it unwillingly, by the clerical pressure from without. In 
short, the history of the establishment of the voluntary sys- 
tem in America, affords one of the most remarkable in- 
stances of enlightened patriotism, and generous self-deni- 
al, to be found in the whole history of the church of Christ. 

' The first body of clergy,'* continues Dr. Lang, * of any 
denomination in America, that openly recognised the de- 
claration of independence, and thereby identified them- 
selves with the cause of freedom and independence, was 
the presbyterian clergy of Virginia.' That body, which 
was then comparatively numerous and influential, consti- 
tuting the large presbytery of Hanover, addressed the Vir- 
ginia House of Assembly on the subject, at their first meet- 
ing after the declaration ; and in the course of their me- 
morial, after urging their own claim for entire religious 
freedom, recommended the establishment of the volunta- 
ry system, and the complete separation of church and state 
in Virginia In this memorial our fathers employ the fol- 
lowing language :f 

' In this enlightened age, and in a land where all, of ev- 
ery denomination, are united in the most strenuous efforts 
to be free, we hope and expect that our representatives 

* Religion and Education in America, by John Dunmore Lang, D. D. 
Lond. 1840, p. 94. 
t p. 96. See this Memorial given in ibid, at pp. 95 - 98. 
9 



98 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



will cheerfully concur in removing every species of reli- 
gious as well as civil bondage. Certain it is, that every 
argument for civil liberty gains additional strength when 
applied to liberty in the concerns of religion ; and there is 
no argument in favor of establishing the christian religion, 
but may be pleaded with equal propriety, for establishing 
the tenets of Mahommed, by those who believe the Alco- 
ran ; or, if this be not true, it is at least impossible for the 
magistrate to adjudge the right of preference among the 
various sects that profess the christian faith, without erect- 
ing a chain of infallibility, which would lead us back to the 
church of Rome.' 

In the legislature, however, the policy of a general 
assessment for the support of religion, on such principles 
as would afford that support equally to all denominations, 
was much and earnestly discussed; and the subject was 
at length referred by the general assembly to the people, 
for the purpose of ascertaining their sentiments in regard 
to it. In consequence of this reference a memorial was 
presented to the assembly, by the presbytery of Hanover, 
in the year 1777. The Rev. Samuel S. Smith, and the 
Rev. David Rice, were the committee who framed it.* 

Another memorial, equally strong, was presented by this 
same presbytery, in 1784 ;f expressing the uneasiness of 
their people, and in which they said, ' the security of our re- 
ligious rights, upon equal and impartial ground, instead of 
being made a fundamental part of our constitution, as it 
ought to have been, is left to the precarious fate of common 
law. A matter of general and essential concern to the peo- 
ple, is now committed to the hazard of the prevailing opin- 
ion of a majority of the assembly, at its different sessions. . . 
We are willing to allow a full share of credit to our fellow- 
citizens, however distinguished in name from us, for their 

* See this Memorial given in ibid, at pp. 99-102. 
t See given at pp. 103-108. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



99 



spirited exertions in our arduous struggle for liberty; we 
would not wish to charge any of them, either ministers or 
people, with open disaffection to the common cause of 
America, or with crafty dissimulation or indecision, till 
the issue of the war was certain, so as to oppose their ob- 
taining equal privileges in religion ; but we will resolute- 
ly engage against any monopoly of the honors and re- 
wards of government, by any one sect of christians, more 
than the rest, for we shun not a comparison with any of 
our brethren, for our efforts in the cause of our country, 
and assisting to establish her liberties, and therefore es- 
teem it unreasonable that any of them should reap superior 
advantages, for at most but equal merit. We expect from 
the representatives of a free people, that all partiality and 
prejudice, on any account whatever, will be laid aside, and 
that the happiness of the citizens at large will be secured, 
upon the broad basis of perfect political equality. This 
will engage confidence in government, and unsuspicious 
affection toward our fellow-citizens.' 

The act, however, having been passed by the legisla- 
ture, and a proposal having been made for a general as- 
sessment, the presbytery again memorialized the assem- 
bly, in October, 1784. # In this paper, which breathes the 
very spirit of liberty, and of what is now boasted of as 
American freedom, it is, among other things, said, ' we 
hope no attempt will be made to point out articles of faith 
that are not essential to the peace of the society ; or to set- 
tle modes of worship ; or to interfere in the internal gov- 
ernment of religious communities, or to render the minis- 
ters of religion independent of the will of the people, 
whom they serve. We expect from our representatives, 
that careful attention to the political equality of all the cit- 
izens, which a republic ought ever to cherish ; and that 
no scheme of an assessment will be encouraged, which 

* See the Memorial, in ibid, at pp. 110 - 115. 



100 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



will violate the happy privilege we now enjoy, of thinking 
for ourselves, in all cases where conscience is concerned. 

In the present important moment, we conceived it 

criminal to be silent ; and have, therefore, attempted to 
discharge a duty which we owe to our religion, as chris- 
tians ; to ourselves, as freemen; and to our posterity, who 
ought to receive from us a precious birthright of perfect 
freedom and political equality.' 

A bill to provide for the support of religion, on the 
principle of such an assessment, had actually been read a 
second time, and was engrossed for the third reading, 
when the memorial was presented. In consequence of 
that memorial, however, the third reading of the bill was 
postponed, with a view 1 to the further consideration of 
the measure.' ' This,' observes Dr. Rice, 'gave an oppor- 
tunity for such an expression of public sentiment as com- 
pletely decided the matter.' A petition to the legislature 
was drawn up by the Rev. John B. Smith, the writer of 
the preceding memorial, remonstrating against the princi- 
ple of an assessment for the support of religion, and solici- 
ting the establishment of complete religious liberty, and 
the entire separation of church and state. This petition 
was signed by not fewer than ten thousand Virginians ; 
the original document and the preceding memorial, being 
both in existence still, in the handwriting of Mr. Smith, 
in the office of the clerk of the House of Delegates of 
Virginia. 

A convention of the presbyterian church in Virginia 
was also held, at which time, among other proceedings, 
another memorial was adopted, to be presented to the 
general assembly, or house of delegates, at its next meet- 
ing. It was given in charge for that purpose, to the 
Rev. John B. Smith, one of the ablest ministers of the 
American presbyterian church at the time, who not only 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



101 



presented it in person, but was heard in support of it, for 
three successive days, at the bar of the house.* 

The result of this long- continued agitation, on the part 
of the presbyterian clergy of Virginia, was, that the bill for 
the support of religion, by means of a general assessment, 
from which that body of clergy would have derived pre- 
cisely the same pecuniary advantages as their episcopal 
brethren, was thrown out in the house of assembly, af- 
ter it had passed the second reading, and been engrossed 
for the third. And, as all the acts of the British parliament, 
as well as all the enactments of the old colonial legisla- 
ture, establishing the episcopal church in Virginia had, in 
the mean time, been repealed, the voluntary system be- 
came, thenceforward, the law of the land. 

At the period in question, Virginia was the leading 
state of the south, if not of the whole Union. Its proceed- 
ings were carefully watched, and its example generally 
followed, by the smaller adjoining states of Maryland and 
Delaware on the one hand, and by the Carolinas and 
Georgia on the other. When, therefore, the new sys- 
tem, of leaving religion entirely to itself, had been duly 
tested, and found to work well in Virginia, it was success- 
ively adopted by each of these states. And so general 
had the feeling in favor of that system become, almost 
immediately after its introduction, that when the Federal 
government was constituted, in the year 1789, one of the 
fundamental stipulations of its constitution was, that it 
should never have the power to erect an established 
church in the United States. 

' I have already observed,' says Dr. Lang, ' that in the 
little Baptist state of Rhode Island, as well as in the Qua- 
ker colony of Pennsylvania, there had been no church es- 
tablishment from the first. But these communities had 
had comparatively no influence in this particular, on the 

* See given in ibid, at pp. 118 - 122. 

9* 



102 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



neighboring states. It was the struggle with powerful and 
opposing influences, for the establishment of a great moral 
principle in Virginia, that attracted general attention 
throughout the Union ; it was the successful operation of 
that principle, when actually established, that carried con- 
viction, and insured its universal adoption. It was long 
after the war of independence, and only in consequence 
of a series of hard struggles on the part of other commun- 
ions, that the example of Virginia, in establishing the vol- 
untary system, was acted upon in Massachusetts, and the 
old congregational establishment of that state entirely 
overthrown. And it is only ten years ago, or in the year 
1830, after the voluntary system had been in operation for 
half a century in Virginia, and in most of the other states 
of the Union, that it was at length fully established in 
Massachusetts, and an entire separation effected, through- 
out the Union, between church and state.' # 

It is a fact also worthy of consideration,! that when the 
assembly which framed the Cambridge platform, in 1660, 
adopted the Westminster Confession of Faith, they made 
no exception of those clauses which relate to the power 
of civil magistrates in matters of religion, while they did 
except those parts ' which have respect unto church gov- 
ernment and discipline.' Whereas, our synod, in adopting 
the same formula in 1729, made no objection to what rela- 
ted to church government; while they objected to what 
referred to the power of civil magistrates. 

Such are the facts in the case — facts, clear and indubi- 
table, as any other facts in our whole history. They put 
to silence the slanderous imputations of our foes. They 
demonstrate the innate, hearty, and resolute republican- 
ism of presbytery. And they prove beyond contradiction, 
that the analogy which we have now traced between 

* Bib. Repertory, July, 1840, p. 334. 

t Such is the judgment of Dr. Lang, himself, a European. Relk. 
m America, p. 308. ^ 5 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



103 



every essential principle of republicanism and the princi- 
ples of presbyterianism, is not imaginary or fortuitous, 
but founded in the very nature of things. # 

To conclude. The constitution of the presbyterian 
church, observes the late Dr. Rice, of Virginia, ' is funda- 
mentally and decidedly republican ; and it is in a very 
happy measure adapted to that particular modification of 
republican institutions, which prevails in the United States. 
This is too plain to require demonstration ; the slightest at- 
tention being sufficient to convince any one that our eccle- 
siastical constitution establishes in the church a represen- 
tative government. Hence, the more decidedly a man is 
a presbyterian, the more decidedly is he a republican. So 
much is this the case, that some christians of this society, 
fully believing that presbytery is de jure divino, consider 
this as decisive evidence that republicanism is of divine 
institution ; and are persuaded that they should grievous- 
ly sin against God by acknowledging any other form of 
civil government.! 

* Dr. Lang, pp. 308, 309. 

t Illustrations of the Char, and Conduct of the Presb. Ch. in Va. by 
John Holt Rice, D. D. 



CHAPTER III. 



THE REPUBLICANISM OF PRESBYTERY ATTESTED BY 
HISTORY. 



SECTION I. 

The analogy which has been proved to exist, between 
republicanism and presbytery, may be fnlly attested, and 
therefore strengthened, by an appeal to history, as em- 
bodying the opinions of men in different ages, concerning 
presbytery, and its actual working as a system. 

For the first three hundred years, the christian church 
was essentially presbyterian, and as certainly republican 
in its form of government. The original form in which 
Christianity existed in Ireland and in Scotland, was, as 
has been fully established, presbyterian.* Nothing could 
be more perfectly analogous in all fundamental principles, 
than the system of the ancient Culdees — the primitive 
christians of Ireland, of Scotland, and ultimately of Eng- 
land also — and presby terianism. Now among the charges 
made against the Culdees, by their inveterate enemies, 
the Romanists, were these, ' their exclusive devotedness 
to the authority of scripture, their rejection of the Romish 
ceremonies, doctrines, and traditions, the nakedness of 
their forms of worship, and the republican character 

OF THEIR ECCLESIASTICAL GO VERNMENT.'f 

* See the proof of this, in the author's Presbytery and not Prelacy 
the Primitive and Scriptural Polity. B. iii. ch. ii. §8-10. 
t Pictorial Hist, of England, vol. i. p. 245. B. ii. ch. ii. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



105 



SECTION II. 

The form of government among the Waldenses, who have 
always been thorough presbyterians* was as purely repub- 
lican. 

We have also noticed the existence, during succeeding 
centuries, of various individuals and bodies, who advocated 
the doctrines of presbytery, and who raised their loud pro- 
test against the encroachments of spiritual and civil des- 
potism. Among these, one of the most remarkable was 
Arnold, of Brescia, who, in the twelfth century, stood forth 
as a most daring opponent of clerical ambition, and of all 
oppression. Arnold commenced his stormy career, as a 
preacher, in the streets of Brescia. The kingdom of Christt 
he ventured to describe as not of this world ; secular 
honors and possessions, he also dared to maintain, could 
justly belong only to the laity. On the total relinquish- 
ment of such anti-christian appendages, by every grada- 
tion of ecclesiastics, he loudly insisted as being the claim 
of the gospel, and as essential to their salvation, even to 
that of their accredited head. His followers at length 
fixed upon the desperate resolve, to unfurl the standard 
of revolt in the very city of Rome. ' Familiar alike,' says 
Dr. V aughan,$ ' with the civil and religious history of 
Rome, Arnold dwelt with a commanding eloquence on 
the exploits of the Bruti, the Gracchi, and the Scipio's, 
and on the saintly character of the martyrs who had 
perished in the cause of her ancient and her better Chris- 
tianity, With a glow of patriotism, and we must presume 
of piety too, he urged the restoration of the forgotten laws 
of the republic, and required, as a measure strictly essen- 
tial to produce a return of the purity and the triumphs of 

* See Presbytery and not Prelacy, &c. as above. B. iii. ch. iii. § 5. 
t Vaughan's Life of Wickliffe, vol. i. p. 139. 
$ Ibid, p. 140, 



106 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



religion, that all authority in the pontiffs and the clergy 
should be limited to the spiritual government of the 
christian commonwealth.' ' In Rome, for nearly ten 
years, the influence of the monk of Brescia presided, while 
several contemporary pontiffs trembled within its walls, 
sunk beneath the cares of their tottering empire, or resorted 
as exiles to the adjacent cities. It was long, however, 
since the voice of freedom had echoed among the seven 
hills ; and her authority, in the present instance, was pre- 
carious, and of short duration.'* 

Pope Adrian accused Arnold to the emperor, when he 
labored to show that the heresy of Arnold was not less 
hostile to political, than to ecclesiastical government. It 
is unnecessary to add, that he was soon commended to 
the tender mercies of the fagot, having perished at the 
stake in 1155. His influence, however, did not die with 
him. For, being driven in his exile to Zurich, he is pre- 
sumed to have left the seeds of his doctrine to vegetate 
there, until, in the age of Zuinglius, it sprung up in the 
harvest of the reformation. 

Wickliffe was, we have seen,t the reviver of presby- 
terian principles in England ; — and was he not, also, the 
great champion of civil and religious liberty ? ' In English 
history,! Wickliffe is known as the first man who dared to 
advocate the free circulation of the scriptures in the ver- 
nacular tongue, the unalienable right of private judgment, 
and our complete deliverance from the wiles and oppres- 
sions of a papal priesthood.' ' And to his mind nearly 
every principle of our general protestantism may be dis- 
tinctly traced.' This will be manifest to any one who 
will investigate the doctrines of Wickliffe, respecting the 
pope's temporal power ; the secular exemptions of the 
clergy ; the limits to the authority of the magistrate ; the 

* Vaughan's Life of Wickliffe, vol. i. p. 140. 

t Presbytery and not Prelacy the Script, and Primit. Polity. B. iii. 

| Vaughan, ibid, p. 8. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



107 



customs of patronage ; tithes and ecclesiastical endow- 
ments ; and other similar matters.^ The Lollards, who 
were the followers of WicklifFe, adopted his principles, 
and by their opposition to the usurpations and tyranny of 
both church and state, paved the way for the English 
reformation ; and for the present liberties of the English 
nation. 

The principles of WicklifFe were also adopted f by 
Huss, who undauntedly declaimed against the clergy, the 
cardinals, the pope himself, and against all despotism, 
whether in church or state. He therefore taught,! that a 
' prelate is no prelate, while he is in mortal sin ; that a 
bishop is no bishop, while he is in mortal sin ; and that if 
temporal lords do wrongs and extortions to the people, 
they ben traytors to God and his people, and tyrants of 
antichrist.' And Huss corroborated this opinion, by show- 
ing that it was held by St. Austin. For these labors, 
WicklifFe, Huss, and Jerome, of Prague, have been im- 
mortalized by Dryden. Of ' this great triumvirate,' he 
gives, as their common characteristic, an ' innate antipathy 
to kings. '§ It thus appears, that as the love of liberty has 
been ever considered the peculiarity of the Teutonic race, II 
so has this spirit unfolded itself in a uniform resistance to 
spiritual as well as civil despotism. 

* See Vaughan's Life, vol. ii. ch. viii. p. 226, &c. 

t See Prelacy and not Presbytery, &c. as above. B. iii. 

jMiddleton's Evang. Biog. vol. i. p. 36. 

§ Poet. Works, (Hind & Panther,) vol. ii. p. 24. 

|| Mackintosh's Hist, of Eng. vol. i- p. 10. 



108 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



SECTION III- 

The republicanism of presbytery fully developed by the 
reformation. 

The reformation was an outburst of liberty against the 
priestcraft of Rome, and the civil bondage it had engen- 
dered.* It was a general emancipation of the human 
mind. The lightning spirit of liberty, which had been 
pent up for ages, now rent the heavens, renewed the face 
of society, and restored vitality to every department of 
human knowledge. It shook, as has been said, the seven 
hills ; it broke the yoke of antichrist ; it shivered the 
sword of the oppressor ; it smote the shrine of supersti- 
tion ; it rent the garments from the shoulders of the Roman 
harlot ; it awoke the consciences of men ; it fixed a proper 
value upon man's soul ; it enlightened Europe ; it made 
error and ignorance a scandal and a curse. t It unclasped 
the long-closed volume of divine inspiration. It thus put 
into every man's hand the standard of truth, and the 
touchstone of error. It made men once more hear the 
voice of God, and learn his truth directly from his own 
lips ; not distorted, transmuted, concealed, falsified, by 
popes, priests, breviaries, or missals ; nor wrapped up in a 
foreign tongue, as if to muffle or silence the voice of 
heaven ! ' It set free the fettered ministry which Christ 
had ordained in his church. It unloosed their bonds ; and 

* Speaking of Luther's appearance in the Hall of the Diet at Worms, 
Carlyle (Lect. on Heroes, p. 218, Eng. ed.) says,' The people on the 
morrow, as he went up to the hall of the diet, crowded the windows 
and housetops, some of them calling out to him, in solemn words, not 
to recant. ' Whosoever denieth me before men !' they cried to him, — 
as in a kind of solemn petition and adjuration. Was it not in reality, 
our petition too, the petition of the whole world, lying in dark bondage 
of soul, paralysed under a black spectral night-mare, and tripple-hatted 
chimera, calling itself Father in God, and what not.' 'Free us; it 
rests with thee ; desert us not ! ' ' Luther did not desert us.' 

t See Presb. Rev. 1842, p. 33, and Brooke's Hist, of Rel. Lib. vol. i. 
pp. 208, 210. 211. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



109 



while stripping them of their idle trappings, and degra- 
ding them from the false exaltation which they had occu- 
pied, it elevated them to their true dignity and office, as 
ambassadors for Christ, and heralds of the great salvation. 
It taught men to disown them as priests, sacrificers, incense- 
burners, forgivers of sins, mediators ; but it called on men 
to listen with most earnest and reverent heed to them, as 
witnesses of the one glorious high priest — proclaimers 
of the one perfect sacrifice.' It has also restored man's 
true responsibility to God, and with it man's true dignity 
and worth, both in his own eyes, and in the eyes of his 
fellow-men. The object of popery was, to supplant per- 
sonal, by clerical or rather ecclesiastical responsibility, 
and thereby it exalted itself, and its priests, to a superhu- 
man lordship overmen's souls, and drew to itself a power, 
which it wielded, with merciless cruelty, over its blinded 
votaries, thus brought within its grasp, and laid entirely at 
its mercy. 

The gospel was thus brought, in all its original sim- 
plicity and glorious liberty, into contact with the minds 
and hearts of men. But ' Christianity,' to use the words 
of Warburton, # ' naturally inspires the love, both of civil 
and religious liberty ; it raises the desire of being governed 
by laws of our own making, and by the conscience which 
is of God's own giving. Either the foul spirit of tyranny 
will defile the purity of religion, and introduce the blind 
submission of the understanding, and slavish compliance 
of the will in the church ; or else the spirit of the Lord 
will overturn the usurpation of an unjust, despotic power, 
and bring into the state, as well as the church, a free and 
reasonable service.' 

So it was at the era of the reformation. Civil and 
ecclesiastical tyranny were so united in their principles 
and administration, that when the mind was emancipated 

* In Brooks's Hist, of Relig. Lib. vol. i. p. 181. 
10 



110 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



from the bondage of the latter, it was at the same time 
prepared to resist the former, and to reject, as absurd, the 
long-established doctrines, of the divine right of kings to 
rule independently of their people, and of passive obe- 
dience and non-resistance to their will. The civil powers 
had become completely subjugated to the ecclesiastical. 
( Moreover,' says Luther, ' the pope and clergy were all 
in all, over all and every thing, like God himself in the 
world ; and the civil authority was in darkness, oppressed, 
and misunderstood.' When, therefore, the people, to 
whom the reformers every where appealed, were led to 
investigate the grounds of this ecclesiastical tyranny, they 
were also led to inquire into the first authority by which 
kings were made. They were thus necessarily brought 
to see the true rights of the people, and the dependence 
of all magistrates upon their sovereign authority, and the 
power delegated by them.* And it is, in fact, to the reli- 
gious spirit excited during the sixteenth century, which 
spread rapidly through Europe, and diffused itself among 
all classes of men, that we are chiefly indebted for the 
propagation of the genuine principles of rational liberty, 
and the consequent amelioration of government. In 
effecting that memorable revolution, by their instructions 
and exhortations, the teachers of protestant doctrine roused 
the people to consider their rights, and exert their power; 
they stimulated timid and wary politicians ; they encour- 
aged and animated princes, nobles, and confederated 
states, with their armies, against the most formidable 
opposition, and under the most overwhelming difficulties, 
until their exertions were ultimately crowned with 
success.! 

Royalty, wherever it existed, stood in the way of the 
reformation of the church, and hence the blows aimed at 

* See Villers on Ref. pp. 108, 109, 1 10, 183. 
t McCrie's Life of Knox. vol. i. pp. 301 , 302. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



Ill 



the abuses of the church, necessarily passed through the 
sides of regal power, and led men to seek that form 
of government, by which such obstructions to civil and 
religious liberty would be removed.* Hence those works 
to which it gave birth, and which are, to this day, the text- 
books of freedom.! Hence, also, those secret societies, 
which were every where established, and of which ' the 
principles of equality and fraternity between the mem- 
bers,' were essential elements.! 

Those states, therefore, which possessed a republican 
form of government, were the first to raise the standard 
of revolt ; the most bold in challenging the authority of 
the papacy ; and the least corrupted by its superstitious 
rites and ceremonies. § The Swiss republics first came 
forward, by their patriotic devotion, to teach men their 

* It has been a standing subject of railing accusation against the 
reformers, that they abetted the doctrine of defensive arms, &c. See 
authorities in Jameson's Cyp. Isot. pp. 211, 212. 

t ' Luther,' says Villers, (on the Reformation, p. 220, &c.) ' wrote his 
Treatise of the Civil Magistrate, his Appeal to the German Nobility, 
&c. Melancthon, Zuingle, John Stourm, and other reformers, discus- 
sed similar subjects, and brought them within the reach of the less 
informed. Buchanan published his famous and bold libel, De Jure Regni, 
in Scotland ; while on the continent, Hubert Languet wrote his Vin- 
dicise contra tyrannos, and Elienne de la Bceti, his Discours sur la 
servitude volontaire. Milton, who labored to defend the long parlia- 
ment of England, and to justify the punishment of Charles I, to the 
human race; composed several political books, which breathed the 
most ardent republicanism, and among others, his Defence of the People 
of England, against Laumaise.'' 

' It was. reserved for the immortal Grotius. to carry light into the 
midst of darkness, to class and arrange the principles, and to offer to 
Europe the first book in which the rights and duties of men in society 
were laid down with energy, precision, and wisdom.' 

' After Grotius, I shall speak of his rival Selden, of his commentator 
Bczcler, of Puffendorf, who published a Law of Nature, superior, per- 
haps, to the Law of Peace, of Barbcyrac, the able translator, and Aris* 
tarchus, of these two works. Hobbes, however, in England, supporting 
another system, was not less useful to the science, both by the truths 
which he published, and by the refutations which be provoked against 
him. Algernon Sydney followed the opposite principles to those of 
Hobbes, in his Treatise on Government, and died a martyr to his attach* 
ment to the cause of the people.' 

% Villers on the Ref. p. 264. 

$ Ibid, p. 46, 



112 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



rights, and to encourage modern Europe to believe what 
is related of the courage of the Spartans at Thermopylae, 
and of their virtues in Laconia * It may also be affirmed, 
that the spirit of the reformation! led to the establishment 
of the republican form of government, in countries where 
it had never before existed, and that to it, as the remote 
cause, is the American revolution to be itself attributed. $ 
' The most accurate observers,' says Villers,$ ' have noticed, 
that nature has particularly fitted the people of the north 
to be republicans ; and it cannot be denied, that several 
of those who have embraced the reformation, have always 
been actuated by this spirit, as, for example, the Saxons, 
the Swiss, the Dutch, and the English; it may even be 
said, that the reformation itself was only a positive appli- 
cation of it. This shock, in its turn, awakened all the 
energy, and the accessory ideas of it. The will to be 
free, in matters of conscience, is at the bottom the same 
as the will to be free in civil matters. Now this will can 
accomplish all that is required ; so there are no slaves, 
but those who wish to be so, or who have not the strength 
of will to put an end to it. The energy of men's minds 
at length constitutes true liberty, as their effeminacy 
makes tyranny necessary. The calm and sober sentiment 
of the high dignity of man, is the only solid foundation of 
true republicanism ; it is by it alone, that equality of rights, 
and reciprocity of duties, are established. Christianity, 
in the purity of its essence, inspires this sentiment, for 
which reason, it is very common and general, in the evan- 
gelical countries.' 
* Villersonthe Reformation, p. 42. 

t'Now the protestant reformation,' says Bancroft, (Hist, of United 
States, vol. ii. p. 456, et seq. and p. 459,) ' considered in its largest influ- 
ence on politics, was the common people awakening to freedom of 
mind.' Not unimportant in this bearing, is the testimony of Gibbon, 
who says, (Decl. and Fall, vol. ii. p. 332, note, 8vo ed ) 'after we have 
passed the difficulties of the first century, we find the episcopal gov- 
ernment universally established, till it was interrupted by the repub- 
lican genius of the Swiss and German reformer*.' 

t Se e ibid, p. 113, and Carlyle's Lect. on Heroes, p. 219, Eng. ed. 

§ Ibid, p. 106. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



113 



Thus it was in the low countries. At the time of the 
reformation, they were subject to Spain. But the spirit 
of the reformation had introduced its ally, the spirit of 
liberty, among them. The United Provinces threw off the 
yoke of Philip II, with courage ; and founded, in their 
morasses, a confederation very nearly resembling that 
which had been formed on the mountains of Helvetia.* 

Still more wonderful was the republican influence of 
the reformation, as exhibited in Geneva. Geneva, as 
has been said, was little known before the reformation of 
the sixteenth century. Subjected alternately by bishops 
and counts, who disputed the dominion; divided into 
parties, according to the passions and interests of the 
moment, this city exerted no influence abroad. To pro- 
testantism, and to Calvin, she owes her celebrity and 
greatness. Calvin was not only a theologian of the first 
order; he was also a politician of astonishing sagacity, 
and Montesquieu had reason to say, that Geneva ought 
to celebrate, with gratitude, the day when Calvin came 
within her walls. t Morals then became pure ; the laws 
of the state underwent a thorough change, and the 
organization of the church was based upon the soundest 
principles. Geneva received the reformed doctrines from 
Zuingle. Now while Luther had restored to the people 
their Bible, Zuingle restored to them their rights. Its 
popular aspect was the characteristic of the reformation in 
Switzerland, And hence the very first fruit of the reform, 
as thus given to Geneva, was its liberty.^ It expelled 

^Villers, p. 71, and more fully at p. 136, &c. The present republic 
can constitution of Hamburgh, and the other free cities of Europe, 
originated in the principles of the Reformation. Baird's Visit to 
Northern Europe, vol. i. p. 82-93. 

tD'Aubigne's Hist of the Ref. vol iii. p. 320. ' The maintenance 
of sound doctrine was intrusted to the people, and recent events have 
shown, that the people can discharge the trust, better than priests or 
pontiffs.' 

jVillers on the Ref. p. 133. ' The era of its reformation, was that 
also of the establishment of its liberty.' Scott's Contin, of Milner, 
vol. iii. p. 256, 

10* 



114 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



its prince bishop, and afterwards governed itself for 
almost three centuries* When the duke of Savoy- 
required them to take back their bishop, and restore 
popery ; the council replied, ' that they were resolved to 
sacrifice their property, their distinctions, their very chil- 
dren, and their own lives, for the word of God ; and that 
they would rather, with their own hands, set fire to the 
four corners of the city, than part with so precious and 
sacred a treasure for themselves, and their families.'! 

Now for the cultivation of this spirit, the Genevans were 
indebted to Calvin, who entirely concurred with Zuingle in 
placing power in the hands of the people, and in his love 
for republicanism. Calvin openly avowed his republi- 
can views. ' Indeed,' says he,t ' if these three forms of 
government, which are stated by philosophers, be con- 
sidered in themselves, I shall by no means deny, that 
either aristocracy, or a mixture of aristocracy and democ- 
racy, far excels all others ; and that, indeed, not of itself, 
but because it very rarely happens, that kings regulate 
themselves, so that their will is never at variance with 
justice and rectitude ; or in the next place, that they are 
endued with such penetration and prudence, as in all 
cases to discover what is best. The vice or imperfec- 
tion of men, therefore, renders it safer, and more tolerable, 
for the government to be in the hands of many, that they 
may afford each other mutual assistance, and admoni- 
tion, and that if any one arrogate to himself more than is 
right, the many may act as censors, and masters, to 

* The effects of Calvin's republicanism ' after the lapse of ages, are 
still visible in the industry and intellectual tone of Geneva.' 'The 
effects of the reformation,' continues the author of History of Swit- 
zerland, Lond. 1632, p. 227, ' made themselves manifest in all the re- 
lations of public and private life ; general attention was directed to 
the internal wants and welfare of the country; and the rising genera- 
tion acquired a taste for the arts of peace, and for the sciences, by 
which the mind is most enlarged and elevated. The study of the an- 
cients, and of history, had been revived by theological inquirers.' 

t Scott's Contin.of Milner, vol. iii. p. 288. 

j: Instit. B. iv. c. 20, § S, vol. ii. pp. 566, 567. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



115 



restrain his ambition. This has always been proved by- 
experience, and the Lord confirmed it by his authority, 
when he established a government of this kind among 
the people of Israel, with a view to preserve them in the 
most desirable condition, till he exhibited, in David, a type 
of Christ. And as I readily acknowledge, that no kind 
of government is more happy than this, where liberty is 
regulated with becoming moderation, and properly estab- 
lished on a durable basis, so also I consider those as the 
most happy people, who are permitted to enjoy such a 
condition ; and if they exert their strenuous and constant 
efforts for its preservation, I admit, that they act in per- 
fect consistence with their duty.' 

' Calvin,' says bishop Horsley,* ' was unquestionably, in 
theory, a republican ; he freely declares his opinion, that 
the republican form, or an aristocracy reduced nearly to 
the level of a republic, was of all the best calculated, 
in general, to answer the ends of government. So wed- 
ded indeed, was he to this notion, that, in disregard of an 
apostolic institution, and the example of the primitive 
ages, he endeavored to fashion the government of all the 
protestant churches upon republican principles ; and his 
persevering zeal in that attempt, though in this country, 
through the mercy of God it failed, was followed, upon 
the whole, with a wide and mischievous success. But in 
civil politics, though a republican in theory, he was no 
leveller.' 

The influence of this small Genevan democracy, 
replete with knowledge, patriotism, and activity, particu- 
larly on France, England, and ' Russia was,' says Mr. 
Villers, 1 incalculable.'! It was to Geneva, that all the pro- 
scribed exiles, who were driven from England by the 

* Sermons, p. 553, App. to Sermon 44. 

t Villers on the Ref. pp. 123, 134. Sir Egerton Brydges, in his life 
of Milton, p. 78, says, ' they were not content with forming a republi- 
can government for their own petty canton, but struggled to turn all 
the great monarchies into republics/ 



116 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



intolerance of Mary, 1 came to get intoxicated with repub- 
licanism,' and from this focus they brought back with 
them, on their return from exile, those principles of 
republicanism, which annoyed Elizabeth, perplexed and 
resisted James, and brought Charles to the deserved 
death of a traitor.* 

No small part of the enmity of many European mon- 
arch s to the reformation, originated in their fear of its re- 
publican tendencies. There existed on the continent of 
Europe a general suspicion, that protestantism was 
hostile to the existing forms of civil government, which 
seemed to derive confirmation, from the events which took 
place in Scotland, Bohemia, the Netherlands, and Eng- 
land, successively. This suspicion, the popes industri- 
ously fostered, and made abundant use of it in France, 
Bavaria, and Austria, where the civil power cooperated 
with them, influenced, as Ranke considers, by a feeling 
that its own security was endangered by the principles 
of the reformation. ' It is asserted,' says M. Villers.f 
' that, at first, Francis I, appeared very favorable to the 
doctrine of the reformers of the church. His beloved 
sister, Margaret, queen of Navarre, protected it publicly. 
At that instant, the fate of the kingdom depended on the 
party which he should embrace. If he had adopted the 
reform, all France would have followed his example ; the 
fate of protestantism in Europe would have been sooner 
decided ; the civil wars in France would doubtless not 
have taken place, nor would the revolution of the 
eighteenth century. Every thing assumed a contrary 
aspect, because the prince conceived lively apprehen- 
sions of the political consequences of the reformation. 
Brantome relates, that one day, in a conversation on this 
subject, the king accidentally said, ' that this novelty 
tended principally to the overthrow of monarhcy, both 

* See Villers on the Ref. and Taylor's Hist. Biog. of the age of Eliza- 
beth, vol. ii. p. 13. 

tlbid, pp. 112, 113, and 179. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



117 



human and divine.' Thus it was, that, as it developed 
itself, the reformation armed the French monarchy against 
it. As it spread over the provinces of the south, it afforded 
a new principle for the basis of liberty, and it was joined 
speedily by malcontent nobles. In fact, in France, the 
Huguenot body soon made pretensions equivalent to a 
partition of the monarchy, and the contest was purely a 
civil one. As for orthodoxy, the French court seems 
never to have cared many straws about it. 

It cannot be doubted, that the sovereigns were made 
thoughtful at an early period, by the democratic tendency 
of institutions, which vested the government of churches 
in the body of christians. Early popular commotions in 
Germany, must have forced this on their attention. The 
emperor Charles was moved, through almost his whole 
life, by mere reasons of temporary policy. In the open- 
ing of his reign, he apprehended war with Francis I, of 
France ; hence he tried to gain over the pope, by pre- 
tending to call Luther to account. Afterwards, when 
war had broken out between him and Clement VII, it is 
not wonderful that an emperor who could keep the pope 
prisoner, and order prayers to be publicly offered for his 
deliverance, should connive at the spread of the reformed 
principles. But when Charles found his reputation in 
all Europe to be endangered by his hypocritical profane- 
ness, and it seemed to be his interest to conciliate the 
pope ; then he assumed a show of orthodoxy, and de- 
clared his determination to suppress the new opinions. 
His haughty behaviour towards independent princes, 
(for such the German electors were,) led to the cele- 
brated league of Smalkalde, in which those princes 
guaranteed to defend their honor, station, and liberty of 
conscience, against his unconstitutional and unjust en- 
croachments. But this was the crisis which decided the 
house of Austria, for ever after, to become the inveterate foes 



118 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



of protestantism. The league proved so powerful as to 
frighten and humble the emperor ; who could then be 
satisfied with nothing, but to trample out every spark of 
the religion which had originated this formidable union* 
Now to this confederation, we owe our present civil and 
religious liberties. If, as has been strikingly remarked, 
Germany had been a monarchy, strictly so called, the 
arbitrary will of the sovereign might have crushed the 
reformation. On the other hand, had it been a democ- 
racy, the cause would have been equally destroyed by 
the precipitation of the people. But inasmuch as it was 
a republican confederation, the cause of the reformation 
was equally protected against the hindrances of power, 
and the anarchy of a democratic populace.! 

And hence, as the Roman catholic party every where 
fought for the royal authority against rebellious subjects, 
and the protestants fought in support of these same 
rebels, and for the foundation of a republic, it has been 
since received as an avowed and fundamental maxim of 
state, that Catholicism is the best support of absolute 
power, while protestantism favored rebellion and a re- 
publican spirit. Nor is this maxim even at the present 
day relinquished by many statesmen.' 

The spirit of the reformation had found its way, by 
some secret and mysterious process, to Scotland, and 
enkindled a flame of liberty in the enthusiastic bosom of 
John Knox, its illustrious reformer. His studies intro- 
duced him$ to an acquaintance with the maxims and 
modes of government in the free states of antiquity ; and 
it is reasonable to suppose, that his intercourse with the 
republics of Switzerland and Geneva had some influence 
on his political creed. Dr. McCrie admits, that his admi- 
ration of the polity of republics, was great,' though not 

* Eclectic Review of Ranke's Popes, p 299. 

t D'Anbigne's Hist, of the Ref. vol. i. pp. S3, 85, 90, Eng. ed 

% McCrie in ibid, p. 303. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



119 



so indiscriminate ' as to prevent him from separating the 
essential principles of equity and freedom which they 
contained, from others which were incompatible with 
monarchy.'* He adds, however, that ' at this time, more 
just and enlarged sentiments were diffused through the 
nation, and the idea of a commonwealth, including the 
mass of the people, as well as the privileged orders, 
began to be entertained.'! ' This that Knox did for this 
nation,' says his illustrious countryman Carlyle,$ 'we 
may really call a resurrection as from death. The people 
began to live ; they needed, first of all, to do that at what 
cost, and costs soever. Scotch literature and thought, 
Scotch industry, James Watt, David Hume, "Walter 
Scott, Robert Burns ; I find Knox and the reformation, 
acting in the heart's core of every one of these persons, 
and phenomena ; I find that without the reformation, they 
would not have been. Or what of Scotland ? The 
puritanism of Scotland became that of England, of New 
England. A tumult in the high church of Edinburgh, 
spread into a universal battle and struggle over all these 
realms ; there came out, after fifty years struggling, what 
we call the glorious revolution, a habeas corpus act, free 
parliaments, and much else ! He is the one Scotchman, 
to whom, of all others, his country and the world owe a 
debt. He has to plead that Scotland would forgive him 
for having been worth to it any million 'unblamable' 
Scotchmen, that need no forgiveness ! He bared his 
breast to the battle ; had to row in French galleys ; wan- 
der forlorn, in exile, in clouds and storms ; was censured, 
shot at through his windows ; had a right sore fighting 

* Ibid, p. 304. At p. 463,he shows from Knox, Hist. pp. 363, 366, that 
in his sentiments Knox had the express approbation of the princi- 
pal divines of the foreign churches. See also vol. ii. p. 260. 

tLife of Knox, vol. i. p. 305. A party were still favorable to a repub- 
lic, as late as 1638. See Dr. Aiton's Life and Times of Alex. Hender- 
son, p. 228. See also p. 524. 

jLect, on Heroes, p. 235. 



120 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



life ; if this world were his place of recompense, he had 
made but a bad venture of it. I cannot apologize for Knox. 
To him it is very indifferent, these two hundred and fifty 
years or more, what men say of him. But we, having 
got above all those details of his battle, and living now 
in clearness on the fruits of his victory, we, for our own 
sake, ought to look through the rumors and controversies 
enveloping the man, into the man himself.' 

Buchanan's favorite and famous treatise, ' De Jure 
Regni apud Scotos,' published in 1579, had much influ- 
ence in diffusing free and liberal views as to the origin 
and limits of kingly power. Buchanan's views may be 
further ascertained from the fact of his having whipped 
king James when a boy for not obeying him, and from 
his declaration, made when on his death-bed, and when 
it was told him that the king was greatly incensed at 
his writing the work mentioned, and his History, ' I am not 
much concerned about that,' said he, ' for I am shortly 
going to a place where there are few kings.'* These 
views were extended by the celebrated Melville in his 
lectures. ' In an age,' says Dr. McCrie,t ' when the prin- 
ciples of liberty were but partially diffused, and under 
an administration fast tending to despotism, there was, at 
least, one man holding an important public situation, who 

* Chalmers's Biog. Diet. vol. vii. pp. 231, 232. Dryden engages to 
prove, from Buchanan and Calvin, that they set the people above the 
magistrate. ( Poet. Wks. vol. i. p. 347. Pref. to the Medal.) ' Buchan- 
an's Treatise,' says Edward Irving, (Confessions of Faith, Lond. 1831, 
Pref. p. exxx, and exxxi.) and Knox's ' First Blast of the Trumpet 
against theMonstrous Regiment of Women,' 'contain essentially upon 
the subject of obedience to the powers that be, that which hath wrought 
like a leaven in the church and realm of Scotland, and may exhil it 
that, country as the most formidable seat of radicalism and rebellion 
in the world.' Again speaking of their doctrine of opposition to kings, 
he says ' which is to make the definition and dignity of the roy; 1 
office to be, not of divine ordination, but of human agreement; and 
to bring in the doctrine of the social compact, and the rights of the 
people, whose natural fruit is revolution, and destruction of all social 
relations whatever.' 

tLife of Melville, vol. ii. pp. 115, 116. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



121 



dared to avow such principles, and who embraced an 
opportunity of imparting to his pupils those liberal views 
of civil government, by which the presbyterian minis- 
ters were long distinguished, and by which all the efforts 
of a servile band of prelates, in concert with an arbitrary 
court, and a selfish nobility, were afterwards unable to 
extinguish or suppress.' 

Welwood, the friend of Melville, and professor of 
laws, was accused of inculcating similar sentiments. 
So that king James abolished the professorship, declar- 
ing ' that the profession of laws is noways necessary 
at this time a truth which no one will ever dispute, 
seeing that the king had determined that his will was 
law.f King James has given the true reason of the 
obnoxiousness of the presbyterian government to all 
kings in his ' True Law of Free Monarchies.' ' A free 
monarch,'! he says, ' that is, one who is free from all re- 
straints or control, can make statutes as he thinks meet, 
without asking the advice of parliaments or states, and 
can suspend parliamentary laws, for reasons known to 
himself only.' The writings of Calvin, Buchanan, and 
Ponet, he calls, therefore, ' apologies for rebellions and 
treasons.' In his Basilikon Doron he was more explicit. 
He here taught? that it belongs to the king to judge 
when preachers wander from their text, and that such as 
refuse to submit to his judgment in such cases, deserve 
to be capitally punished ; that no ecclesiastical assem- 
blies ought to be held without his consent; that no man 

* Life of Melville, vol. ii. p. 120. 

fThese principles were afterwards developed by Rutherford, in his 
'Lex Rex, 1 in 1644. and by Guthrie in his 'The Causes of God's 
Wrath,' which were called in and burned in Edinburgh by the com- 
mon hangman. ( Hist, of Westminster Assembly, p. 363.) Also in the 
Apologetical Relation; Naphtali ; (1680;) Jus Populi, by Mr. James 
Stewart of Goodtrees ; Hist, of the Indulgence; Banders Disbanded; 
Rectius Instruendum; and Shield's Hind Let Loose, and The Mys- 
tery of Magistracy Unveiled. 

jLife of Melville, vol. ii. p. 159. §Ibid, p. 162. 

11 



122 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



is more to be hated of a king than a proud puritan ; that 
parity among ministers is irreconcilable with monarchy, 
inimical to order, and the mother of confusion; that 
puritans had been a pest to the commonwealth and 
church of Scotland, wished to engross the civil govern- 
ment as tribunes of the people, sought the introduction 
of democracy into the state, and quarrelled with the 
king because he was a king; that the chief persons 
among them should not be allowed to remain in the land; 
in flue, that parity in the church should be banished, 
episcopacy set up, and all who preached against bishops, 
rigorously punished. Such were the sentiments which 
James entertained, and which he had printed, at the very 
time that he was giving out that he had no intention of 
altering the government of the church, or of introducing 
episcopacy.'* 

Hence, the political principles of the papists were 
agreeable to James ; and the chiefs of that party paid 
assiduous court to him, by flattering his love of power, 
and inveighing against the levelling doctrines, and repub- 
lican spirit, of the reforming ministers. And hence the 
envenomed hatred manifested by James to the immortal 
Melville, the pride and ornament of his country, and the 
moral hero of his age. ' Sir,' said Melville to the king, 
on one occasion, when, having taken him by the sleeve in 
his fervor, and called him ' God's silly vassal,' he proceed- 
ed to address him in the following strain, perhaps the 
most singular in point of freedom, that ever saluted royal 
ears, or that ever proceeded from the mouth of a loyal 
subject who would have spilt his blood in defence of the 
person and honor of his prince. f ' We will always hum- 
bly reverence your majesty in public, but since we have 

* McCrie's Life of Melville, ii. 37. 

t Ibid, p. 66. See the whole speech. See also similar ones, in vol. i. 
pp. 171, 196, and vol. ii. pp. 244, 145. See also the declaration of the 
supreme power of the people, made by Alexander Henderson, in his 
second answer to the king. Life and Times, by Dr. Aiton, p. 644. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 123 

this occasion to be with your majesty in private, and 
since ye are brought in extreme danger, both of your 
life and crown, and along with you the country and 
church of God are like to go to wreck, for not telling you 
the truth, and giving you faithful counsel, we must dis- 
charge our duty, or else be traitors both to Christ and you. 
Therefore, sir, as diverse times before I have told you, 
so now again I must tell you, there are two kings, and 
two kingdoms in Scotland; there is Christ Jesus, the 
king of the church, whose subject king James the Sixth 
is, and of whose kingdom he is not a king, nor a lord, 
nor a head, but a member. Those whom Christ has 
called, and commanded to watch over his church, and 
govern his spiritual kingdom, have sufficient power and 
authority from him to do this, both jointly and severally, 
the which, no christian king or prince should control and 
discharge, but fortify and assist ; otherwise, they are not 
faithful subjects of Christ, and members of his church. 
We will yield to you your place, and give you all due 
obedience ; but again I say, you are not the head of the 
church ; you cannot give us that eternal life, which even 
in this world we seek for, and you cannot deprive us 
of it.' 

"We need not add, that among the charges alleged 
against Melville, one was, that he wished to 'overturn 
episcopacy, and to establish upon its ruins the ecclesi- 
astical republicanism of Geneva.'* 

Does any one ask why the church of Scotland became 
so impregnated with republican principles, the answer is 
found in the very nature of her reform. In her case, as 
in Germany, the order was essentially the reverse of what 
took place in England. ' The reform in England,'! says a 

* Life of Melville, p. 67. 

tMilne on the Difference between the Presb. Estab. and the Episc. 
Ch. of Scotland, Aberdeen, 1841. In Dr. McCrie's Writings, pp. 
ill, 175. 



124 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



high-toned prelatist, ' was a monarchic movement.'* In 
Scotland, on the other hand, the whole movement was 
effected by the people, against, the influence and wishes 
of the monarch. f Knox and his coadjutors, men of the 
people, obscure in station and limited in resources, threw 
dow n the gauntlet at the foot of the throne. They made 
their appeal to the people. They addressed themselves 
to the understanding of the people, and in their own 
language, and threw themselves upon their bravery. Nor 
were they disappointed. Their burning thoughts, and 
heartfelt truths, once received into the bosom of society, 
sent forth a tide of life through every vein and artery. 
The reformation in Scotland was essentially republican, 
that is, it originated and was carried through by the 
people, in opposition to the nobility and the monarch. 
The polity of the church received, therefore, the impress 
of the mould in which it was cast, and has ever been 
characterized by a popular, representative, and republi- 
can spirit. It. has, in fact, always been the reproach of 
the presbyterian church, that she is too popular.! 

At the reformation, the ecclesiastical supremacy was 
found lodged in the hands of the pope, that is, the 
government of the church was an absolute monarchy. 
There were, therefore, but three courses open to the 
reformers. They could transfer this supremacy to the 
state ; to a. council of bishops ; or to the church, repre- 
sented by its ministers and elders in ecclesiastical courts. 
Now England chose the first of these alternatives, and 
Scotland the last. The king, or the state, had nothing 
to do with the church of Scotland in its formation. They 
may be said rather to have been its persecutors, down 

*Dr. Taylor's Hist. Bios;, of the a£*e of Elizabeth, vol. ii. pp. 57, 58. 

tSee the Edinb. Rev. for 1S36, Oct. p. 51. Presb. Rev. July, 1S42, 
p. 236. See also Dr. Hodge's Constitutional HisL of the Presb. Ch. 
part i. p. 5S-60, where the point is well illustrated from their standards. 

jSee Lectures on the Headship of Christ, pp. 45, 46, 52, 53. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



125 



to the period of its public recognition.* All was done 
by the people, and by spiritual authority alone. Taking 
the Bible as their guide, and its charter as their warrant, 
they constituted themselves into a regular church, admin- 
istered ordinances, and drew up that plan of discipline, 
which they believed to be most accordant to the word of 
God, most consonant to the practice of the truly primitive 
church, best adapted to guard against spiritual despotism, 
and most likely to advance the cause of Christ. Every fea- 
ture of the polity of the Scotch church, in its general out- 
lines, was, therefore, republican. Her schools were ' little 
republics,'! and even the superintendents, out of which 
prelatical ingenuity has endeavored to torture some resem- 
blance to prelates, were appointed on ' democratical prin- 
ciples.':]: A portion of the Scottish people have always 
been ready, even under their monarchy, to avow their 
republican predilections. ' The remains of the school 
of Melville, led on by Mr. William Scott, and Mr. John 
Carmichael, were favorable to a republic, and opposed to 
every phantom of episcopacy, in all its modifications. § In 
asserting the internal and independent authority of the 
church, it was contended,!! that the king ' has no power 
to prohibit one called by the church, which in every point 
possesses, as a perfect republic, this spiritual intrinsic 
power.' The royalists regarded^ ' the sacred person of 
the king as the only impediment to the republican liberty 
and confusion, which the covenanters have designed. 

* Mr. Mackenzie, in his History of the Christian Church, Lond. 
1842, at p. 313, states, that ' the spirit in which the Scottish reforma- 
tion was conducted, appears to have been less christian, as well as 
less catholic, than that which took place in England.' In illustration 
of this, he states, ' the right divine of kings, which, until after this 
period, was scarcely questioned in England, was not only canvassed 
by the Scottish presbyterians, but was declared by them to be a fal- 
lacy.' Fas est ah hoste doceri. See also Maurice's Kingdom of 
Christ, Pref. 

tChalmers, Wks. vol. xii. p. 217. 

jDr. McCrie's Miscell. Writings, p. 178. 

§Life and Times of Henderson, by Dr. Aiton, p. 241, 

Ulbid, 331. f Pp. 402, and 448, 482, 483. 
11* 



126 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



themselves ' The strength of this party, is further de- 
scribed by Dr. Ailon, when speaking of the puritans, he 
says,* ' this sect were of themselves, at first, few in 
number, and would not have made a figure in England 
so soon, had they not been nursed into strength by a 
party in Scotland, whose authority had become supreme. 
Henderson and his friends were attached to the mon- 
archy, and wished merely to secure their own church 
against persecution. These were devoted to their faith, 
with self-abasement, penitence, and gratitude ; but they 
were opposed by another party of energetic and inflexi- 
ble presbyterians, who coalesced with the political puri- 
tans of the sister kingdom.' ' Is it any wonder then/ 
asks Dr. Hodge. t ' that the Scotch abhorred episcopacy ? 
It was in their experience identified with despotism, super- 
stition, and irreligion. Their love of presbyterianism was 
one with their love of liberty and religion. As the parlia- 
ment of Scotland was never a fair representation of the 
people, the general assembly of their church became 
their great organ for resisting oppression, and withstand- 
ing the encroachments of their sovereigns. The conflict, 
therefore, which, in England, was so long kept up between 
the crown and the house of commons, was, in Scotland, 
sustained between the crown and the church. This was 
one reason why the Scotch became so attached to pres- 
byterianism; this too was the reason why the Stuarts 
hated it, and determined, at all hazards, to introduce pre- 
lacy as an ally to despotism.' 

*Life and Times of Henderson, by Dr. Aiton, p. 524. 

tHist. of the Presb.Ch. parti, p. 58. For further illustrations of the 
noble conduct of our Scottish fathers in battling for liberty, see 
The History of the Covenanters, vol.i. pp. 199, 230, and vol.ii. pp. 52, 
65, 125, 1S4. Also Patrick Welwood, p. 76-78. Presb. Rev. Ap. 1839, 
pp.631. 681, C94. Irving's Last Days, pp. 551, 553. Dr. Alton's Life 
and Times of Henderson, pp. 297,449. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



127 



SECTION III. 

The republicanism of presbytery illustrated from its history 
in modern times in England, 

"We now pass to the history of presbyterianism in 
England. The genealogy of presbytery in England is 
not fully understood. It is thus given by Fuller: ' In the 
days of king Edward it was conceived ; in the reign of 
queen Mary (but beyond sea at Frankfort) was born ; in 
the reign of queen Elizabeth it was nursed and weaned ; 
under king James I, grew up a youth; but toward the 
end of king Charles's reign, shot up to the full strength 
and stature of a man, able not only to cope with, but to 
conquer the hierarchy, its enemy.' But he might have 
gone even further back, to the time of Henry VIII, or 
even earlier. There were in fact two reformations strug- 
gling together for establishment in England ; the one 
monarchic, the other democratic ; the former relying for 
its support on power, the latter seeking strength by 
courting popularity.^ 

In the reign of Elizabeth, the commons were in favor 
of puritanism, because of its democratic principles, which 
were, like it, opposed to the power of royalty and aris- 
tocracy.! The Irish church, from its commencement, 
evinced a still greater leaning to puritanism than the 
church of England..! In short, the church of England, in 
the age of Elizabeth, had no hold on the affections of the 
great body of the nation. It was only maintained by the 
strong arm of power, and by the zealous exertions of 
those whom grants of abbey-lands had won to its sup- 
port. ' Among the middle ranks, puritanism was all but 
universal.'^ 

* Taylor's Biography of the Eliz. Age, vol. ii. p. 67. 

t Ibid, p. 78. % Ibid, P- 81. § Ibid, p. 97. 



128 ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 

Ill fact, the prelatic constitution of the English church 
never was, and never will be, popular. The people, and 
many of the clergy, have ever been, from the first, pro- 
testing parties. It never received the national acquies- 
cence, but awakened indignation, roused the spirit of 
rebellion, and summoned men to the defence of their 
liberties, until the scene closed in anarchy and blood.* 
* In England,' says Mr. Lathbury, 'the reformation was 
effected by the authority of government.'! ' It made, 
therefore, the executive the religious teacher ; it institu- 
ted uniformity of belief in a human creed as the criterion 
of salvation ; it arrogated to the regenerated church the 
sole possession of apostolical descent ; it cut off all pos- 
sible intercommunion with other religious bodies ; and, 
withal, made the people the crouching slaves of a high 
priesthood. These things we charge upon the English 
reformation as its serious deficiencies. We charge upon 
it. that the people were never consulted, in the mutilation 
of their parish temples, in their change of rites, or the na- 
ture of their instruction. We charge upon it, that it left 
irregularly, unjustly distributed wealth among the clergy. 
We charge upon it, that it assumed itself to be so exclu- 
sively apostolical, that it would recognise the officers of 
no other church, — ■ except we admit that it did, and still 
does, recognise the papal hierarchy.'^: 

The popular will in England found voice in puritanism. 
By their intercourse with foreign protestants, and their 
sympathy with the foreign churches, the people of Eng- 

* See Edinb. Review, Oct. 1836, p. 51. 

t Hist, of the English Episcop. in ibid. p. 52. ' A king,' says Ma- 
cauley, (Miscellanies, vol. i. p. 243, Boston ed.) 'whose character may 
be best described by saying, that he was despotism itself .personified, 
unprincipled ministers, a rapacious aristocracy, a servile Parliament ; 
such were the instruments by which England was delivered from the 
yoke of Rome. The work, which had been begun by Henry, the 
murderer of his wives, was continued by Somerset, the murderer of 
his brother, and completed by Elizabeth, the murderer of her guest. 
Sprung from brutal passion, nurtured by selfish policy,' &c, 

% Edinb. Rev. ibid, p. 52, 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



129 



land had ever before their eyes the vision of a spiritual 
republic, and this they believed to be realized in the 
church of Geneva* And finding under a civil monarchy 
nothing but oppression and spiritual thraldom, they were 
anxiously led to inquire into their civil rights. They soon 
discovered, that the whole jugglery about the divine in- 
stitution and right of kings, as well as their absolute 
power, had no foundation in fact or reason, but arose 
from an old alliance between ecclesiastical and civil 
policy. They found, that to preserve their own rank, 
dignity, wealth, and power, prelates claimed a divine 
right for themselves and for kings, and had imposed their 
usurpations upon a silly world.! 

The character of the despots with whom they had to 
contend, thoroughly schooled the puritans in the truth 
and importance of their views. Henry VIII was des- 
potism itself personified. Elizabeth, the murderer of her 
guest, enforced conformity by penal laws, only because 
this was the fastness which arbitrary power was making 
strong for itself. $ Of Charles I, it has been said, that 
his whole life was a lie ; that he hated the constitution 
the more because he had been compelled to feign respect 
for it, and that to him the love and the honor of his people 
were as nothing. § Churchmen, Roman Catholics, Pres- 
byterians, Independents, his enemies, his friends, his 
tools, English, Scotch, Irish, all divisions and subdivisions 
of his people had been deceived by him. 

Such were the despots, male and female, against whom 
the puritans were called upon to contend. A systematic 
political opposition, vehement, daring, and inflexible, was 
thus engendered. From religion, they were led to politics. 
Debarred their religious rights, crushed in their assertion 

* Dr. Taylor's Hist. Biogr. of the Age of Elizabeth, 
t Bolingbroke's Idea of a Patriot King, p. 79, 
t Macauley's Miscell. vol. i. p. 249. 
$ Ibid, pp, 267 and 290, 



130 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



of freedom of conscience, and persecuted for exercising 
the inalienable privilege of private judgment, the puritans 
were forced to turn against the power that thus oppressed 
them, and to assert their original and sovereign independ- 
ence. All lawful government having been dissolved, and 
an arbitrary despotism established, their monarchs were 
justly regarded as usurpers and tyrants, and all allegiance 
to them as for ever forfeited. The spirit of liberty was 
grafted upon the stock of religion, and was thus quickened 
with a heavenly ardor, and an impetuous zeal, against 
which nothing could stand. During the latter part of the 
reign of Elizabeth, the youthful Hercules was found strong 
enough to crush the serpent, in the question of monopolies. 
"While Whitgift contended for the absolute despotism of 
monarchy, 1 Cartwright gave utterance to the system of a 
democratic republic,'* while 'the house of commons, itself, 
exhibited strong symptoms of hostility to prelacy, which 
could hardly be kept in check, by the strong interference 
of the crown.'t In the reign of James the number of the 
puritans became greater, and their exertions in the cause 
of freedom more apparent. With their growing intelli- 
gence and wealth, this spirit increased, until, in the reign 
of Charles I, a universal enthusiasm seized the nation, 
pervading not only the middle classes, but also many of 
the gentry, which declared, not only in words but actions, 
that while the king was resolved to be absolute, the people 
were determined to be free.$ The republican party dates 
its origin from the early campaigns of the civil war. Coke 
laid its foundation in the Petition of Right, endued with 

* Dr. Taylor's Hist. Biog. of the Eliz. age, vol. ii. p. 84. In his table 
of dangerous doctrines, avouched by Cartwright, Whitgift says, (Def, 
of the Answ. Prefatory matter, 19th error.) ' he affirmeth that the gov- 
ernment of the church is aristocratical, or popular, and therefore his 
opinion must needs be, that no government of any commonwealth 
ought to be monarchical, but either aristocratical or popular ; which 
is a dangerous error.' 

tlbid^p. 85. 

t See Alison's Hist, and Macauley's Miscel. vol. i. p. 251. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



131 



the form of law, in 1628. Selden built on this foundation. 
Hampden, Pym, Vane, St. John, Cromwell, and Sydney, 
completed the superstructure, which Sydney has immor- 
talized by his writings and his blood* That the govern- 
ment aimed at by the commonwealth men was repub- 
lican, Mr. Godwin assumes as undeniable. Nor did the 
republican party expire with the restoration, but continued 
in a distinct, form, until the revolution in 1688.1 Their 
character, too, though constantly attacked, and scarcely 
ever defended, is still popular with the great body of Eng- 
lishmen, to the present day, while the principles, for which 
they fought, are daily advancing in their rapid progress 
towards ultimate and complete triumph. - But for the 
weakness of that foolish Ishbosheth, (Cromwell's son,) 
the opinions we have been expressing,' says Macauley,1: 
1 would, we believe, now have formed the orthodox creed 
of good Englishmen. "We might now be writing under 
the government of his Highness, Oliver the Fifth, or Rich- 
ard the Fourth, Protector, by the grace of God, of the Com- 
monwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the 
dominions thereto belonging. The form of the great 
founder of the dynasty, on horseback, as when he led the 
charge at Naseby, or on foot, as when he took the mace 
from the table of the commons, would adorn all our 
squares, and overlook our public offices, from Charing- 
Cross ; and sermons in his praise would be duly preached 
on his lucky day, the third of September, by court-chap- 
lains, guiltless of the abominations of the surplice.' 

The puritans of England, those pioneers who led the 
presbyterian army, cleaving their way through the moun- 
tain barriers, which opposed all progress, have accom- 

* Godwin's Hist, of the Commonwealth, vol. i. pp. 1 - 5, 6, 9, and 
ch. i. 

t Godwin, ibid, pp. 1-5, and p. 6, and Guizot's Hist, of Civilization, 
vol. i. pp. 307 and 310. 

J Miscell. vol. i. pp. 301, 302. 



132 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



plished a noble work* At the commencement of the 
eighteenth century, every free constitution in Europe had 
gone down, overwhelmed by the deluge of spiritual des- 
potism. That of England, alone, weathered the storm — 
and why ? Why was it, that, in that epidemic malady of 
constitutions, this escaped the destroying influence ; or 
rather that, at the very crisis of the disease, a favorable 
turn took place in England, and in England alone ? The 
peculiar glory of the puritans is, ' that, in this great plague 
and mortality of constitutions, they took their stand be- 
tween the living and the dead. At the very crisis of its 
destiny, at the very moment when the fate which had 
passed on every other nation was about to pass on Eng- 
land, they arrested the danger ; so that whatever of political 
freedom exists, either in Europe or in America, has sprung, 
directly or indirectly, from those institutions which they 
secured and reformed.'! 

From puritanism, hung as it is in gibbets, like the bones 
of its leading advocates, we have our habeas corpus, our 
free representation of the people ; acknowledgment, wide 
as the world, that all men are, or else must, shall, and will 
become, what we call free men.$ ' Protestantism,' adds 
Mr. Carlyle,§ ' was a revolt against spiritual sovereignties, 
popes, and much else. Presbyterianism, carried out the 
revolt against earthly sovereignties and despotisms. Prot- 
estantism has been called the grand root, from which our 

* See Dr. Price's Hist, of Non-conformity, vol. ii. pp. 3, 26. 

t Macauley's Miscell. vol. i. pp. 27 L, 277, 253. See also similar 
attestations, by Lord Brougham, in his speeches, vol. ii. pp. 43, 53. 
To the Puritans of the Long Parliament, we owe the abolition of the 
infamous practice of torture, till then legalized in England. Edinb. 
Rev. April, 1838, p. 64. A Puritan was a friend of liberty. Neal's 
Hist, of the Puritans, vol. i. pp. 9, 10. See ibid, vol. i. pp. 115, 116, 126, 
280, 297, 320, 333, 337, 421, 424, 427, 463, 473, 475, 477, &c See Gui- 
zot's high testimony in Hist, of Civilization, p. 307. The Stuart 
Dynasty, by Dr. Vaiighan, vol. i. p. iii. et passim. See p. 355. Pre- 
liminary Disc, to the prose works of Milton, by A. St. John, vol. i. 

t Carlyle on Heroes, p. 334. 

§ Ibid, p. 200. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



133 



whole subsequent European history, branches out ; for 
the spiritual will always body itself forth in the temporal 
history of men. The spiritual is the beginning of the 
temporal. And now, sure enough, the cry is every where 
for liberty and equality, independence, and so forth ; in- 
stead of kings, ballot-boxes, and electoral suffrages.' 

' The honest truth is,' says the celebrated archdeacon 
Blackburne, 'that these very controversies (respecting 
the Genevan discipline) first struck out, and in due time 
perfected, those noble and generous principles of civil and 
religious liberty, which too probably, without those strag- 
gles, or something of the same sort, would hardly have 
been well understood to this very hour. It is to the con- 
troversy about the Geneva Discipline, that we owe the 
efforts of the excellent Castallio, to disgrace the infernal 
doctrine of punishing heretics capitally ! ! '* 

' The tree of liberty,' says the Rev. Thomas Scott, au- 
thor of the commentary,! ' sober and legitimate liberty, 
civil and religious, under the shadow of which we in the 
establishment, as well as others, repose in peace, and the 
fruit of which we gather, was planted by the puritans, 
and watered, if not by their blood, at least by their tears 
and sorrows. Yet it is the modern fashion, to feed delight- 
fully on the fruit, and then revile, if not curse, those who 
planted and watered it! 

In thus identifying puritanism and republicanism, we 
have not been speaking without book. Elizabeth hated 
presbytery, and why ? — because ' it held principles incon- 
sistent with allegiance to her crown.'! ' She believed that 
the maintenance of episcopacy was necessary to the con- 
tinuance of royalty.' h 1 She knew that the church of 
Geneva, which the puritans declared to be their model, 

* On the Intermediate State. Lond. 1772, p. xxxiii. 

t Letters on Conformity. Wks. vol. ix.p. 532. 

| Taylor's Biog. of the Eliz. Age, vol. ii. p. 77. 

§ And not unreasonably, says the above author, p. 68. 

12 



134 ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 

was not only essentially republican, but could not be per- 
fectly established, except in a republic' Being, therefore, 
a pope in spirit, she decreed, that it would be ' prejudicial 
to her crown.' This had been demonstrated to her, by 
Lord Burleigh, who said, that those views of church gov- 
ernment which should popularize it, would end in an 
' abatement of her prerogative,' as, in this way, a power 
would be set up, distinct from hers, over which she could 
exercise no control. 

King James hated presbytery, and why ? At the Hamp- 
ton Court Conference, called by him, in 1604, in mockery 
of the puritans, and to cover his own hypocrisy and apos- 
tacy, Dr. (afterwards bishop) Reynolds, happening to 
name the word presbytery, the king broke out in the fol- 
lowing kingly and most graphic speech. ' You are aiming 
at a Scot's presbytery, which agrees with monarchy as 
well as God and the devil. Then Jack and Tom, and 
Will and Dick, shall meet, and at their pleasures censure 
me and my council, and all our proceedings. Then Will 
shall stand up and say, it must be thus ; then Dick shall 
reply and say, nay, marry, but we will have it thus ; and 
therefore, here I must once more reiterate my former 
speech, and say, Le roi s'avisera ; the king alone shall 
decide.' Turning to the bishops, he avowed his belief, 
that the hierarchy was the firmest support of the throne. 
Of the puritans, he added — ' I will make them conform, 
or I will harry them out of the land, or else worse,' ' only 
hang them ; that's all.' # So also in his speech to parlia- 

* One great source of objection to the Genevan translation of the Bi- 
ble, was, that in the notes appended to it, were many things adverse to 
the principles of government, civil and ecclesiastical, established in Eng- 
land. On this ground, King James, in the conference at Hampton 
Court, pronounced them seditious, and savoring too much of danger- 
ous and traitorous concerts. — Cardwell's Document. Annals, vol. ii. 
p. 12. c.v. 1588. 

In connection with this conference, let any man contrast the conduct 
and language of the bishops, with those of the presbyterians, and he 
will learn much as to their respective bearings. See McCrie's Life of 
Melville, vol. ii. pp. 192, 195, 202, 203, 233, 253, 265, 267. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



135 



merit, the king said,* ' they do not so far differ from us in 
points of religion, as in their confused form of policy and 
parity ; being ever discontented with the present govern- 
ment, and impatient to suffer any superiority, which 
maketh their sects insufferable in any well-governed 
commonwealth.'! 

Charles I. hated presbytery, and why ? When urged 
to consent to the removal of episcopacy, he alleged, as 
one reason of his refusal, that it was more friendly to 
monarchy than presbytery.^ Writing on this subject to his 
devoted episcopal friends and counsellors. Lord Jermyn, 
Lord Culpepper, and Mr. Ashburnham, he expresses him- 
self thus : ' Show me any precedent wherever presbyterial 
government and regal was together, without perpetual 
rebellions ; which was the cause that necessitated the 
king, my father, to change that government in Scotland. 
And even in France, where they are but upon tolerance, 
(which in likelihood should cause moderation,) did they 
ever sit still so long as they had power to rebel ? And it 
cannot be otherwise, for the ground of their doctrine is 
anti-monarchical. Indeed, to prove that clearly, would 
require more time, and a better pen, than I have. I will 
say, without hyperbole, that there was not a wiser man 
since Solomon, than he who said — no bishop, no king; 
In his letters, the king farther states,§ ' that he looks on 
episcopacy as a stronger support of monarchical power, 
than even the army. From causes which we have already 
considered, the established church had been, since the 

* Ibid, p. 474. 

t The Millenary petition of the puritans, on James's coming into 
England, was formally declared to be opposed to monarchy. — McCrie's 
Life of Melville, vol. ii. p. 189. 

t See Clarendon State Papers, vol. ii. pp. 202, 260, 274, in Dr. Miller 
on Min. p. xxiv. See further evidence in Dr. Aiton's Life and Times 
of Alexander Henderson, pp. 57, 228, 294, 445. 

§ Macauley's Miscell. vol. i. p. 293. 



136 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



reformation, the great bulwark of the prerogative. Charles 
wished, therefore, to preserve it.' # 

This tendency of puritanism toward ' a popular state/ 
was made the ground of its severest persecutions f This 
charge against all the reformed churches, and the church 
of Scotland, in particular, constituted one chief topic of 
discussion, in the celebrated discourse of archbishop Ban- 
croft — the fountain of high-churchism.t 'This notion 
of the tendency of the puritanic doctrine, to a parity in the 
church and commonwealth, was that wherewith Laud, 
who martyred his king and country, envenomed the heart 
of that deluded monarch — and gratified his own malev- 
olence, in the barbarities inflicted on his opponents. $ The 
professed design of Heylen's History of that ' active sect,' 
the presbyterians, was to show, as he says in his title-page, 
■ their opposition to monarchical and episcopal govern- 
ment, &c.'ll 

The republicanism of presbytery was even preached 
against by no less a personage than dean Swift.lf 1 Upon 
the cruel persecutions,' he says, ' raised against the protest- 
ants under Queen Mary, among the great number who fled 
the kingdom, to seek for shelter, several went and resided at 

* I have a copy of the rare work, published by authority of Charles 
II, ' The History of the English and Scotch Presbytery, wherein is 
discovered their designs and practices, for the subversion of govern- 
ment in church and state ! ' 2d ed. 1660, with a curious frontispiece, 
representing the English church in a tree, which is being cut down, 
and a crown below, with the motto, ' tollat te qui te non novit.' 

t See a letter from Parker and Sandys, in Strype's Parker, ii. 281, in 
Price's Hist, of Nonconf. vol. i. p. 2S1, and Parker's Let. to the Com. 
in Strype, ii. 323, in do. vol. i. p. 279. 

jMcCrie's Life of Melville, vol. i. p. 3S7. Among the propositions 
which he extracted from the writings of the puritans, even at that 
early day, were these. (Dr. Vaughan's Stuart Dynasty, vol. i. p. 40.) 
' The authority which princes have, is given them from the people ; 
and upon occasions, the people may take it away again, as men may 
revoke their proxies and letters of authority.' 

§ See Dedica. to his speech in the Star chamb. in the Let. and Episc. 
pp. 341, 346. 

|| Oxf. 1670, and lib. v. 

"j[ Sermons on the Martyrdom of Charles I. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



137 



Geneva, which is a commonwealth, governed ivithout a king, 
where the religion, contrived by Calvin, is without the order 
of bishops. When the protestant faith was restored by- 
Queen Elizabeth, those who fled to Geneva, returned, 
among the rest, home to England, and ivere groivn so fond 
of the government and religion of the place they had left, 
that they used all possible endeavors, to introduce both into 
their own country. From hence they proceeded, by de- 
grees, to quarrel with the kingly government, because, 
as I have already said, the city of Geneva, to which their 
fathers had flown for refuge, was a commonwealth, or govern- 
ment of the people' 

But this was not enough. The poet laureat must 
popularize the same charge against presbytery. Dryden, 
therefore, under the character of a wolf, thus characterizes 
presbytery.* 

' Last of all, the litter 'scaped by chance, 
And from Geneva first infested France. 
Some authors thus his pedigree will trace, 
But others write him of an upstart race ; 
Because of WicklifFe's brood no mark he brings, 
But his innate antipathy to kings. 
"What tho' your native kennel still be small, 
Bounded between a puddle and a wall ? 
Yet your victorious colonies are sent, 
Where the North- ocean girds the continent. 
Quickened with fire below your monster's breed, 
In fenny Holland, and in fruitful Tweed ; 
And like the first, the last effects to be 
Drawn to the dregs of a Democracy, 
But as the poisons of the deadliest kind, 
Are to their own unhappy coast confined, 
So presbytery and its pestilential zeal, 
Can flourish only in a commonweal.' 

* Hind and Panther, as above. Was not Bishop Burnet also subject 
to the charge, of entertaining and inculcating anti-monarchical and 
republican principles, because he sought to conciliate the Dissenters, 
and, in unison with them, opposed the doctrines of passive obedience, 
and unqualified non-resistance to the ruling power, that is, arbitrary 
government 1 — Hist. Ref. vol i. Nares's pref. p. xvii, 

12* 



138 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



The same charge of republicanism was urged against 
presbyterians by Jeremy Taylor* and by Isaac Taylor, 
who calls republicanism the presbyterian principle,! and 
is dwelt upon at length, as one founded in necessary 
causes, and springing from principle and not merely from 
analogy, by Mr. Woodgate.t 



section v . 



The republicanism of presbytery demonstrated from its 
history in these United States. 

Having thus traced the connection between presbyte- 
rianism and republicanism, both in ecclesiastical and in 
civil government, from its revival and establishment at 
the era of the reformation, through all its eventful strug- 
gles in England and in Scotland, we are naturally led to 
inquire, what relation it bears to this great American re- 
public, — and who can deny, that it stands to it, in the all- 
important relation of a cause to its effect ? The pilgrim 
fathers, the inhabitants of New England, were, we have 
seen, all presbyterian in essential principles, and many 



* See quoted in Dr. Reed's Hist, of the Presb. Ch. in Ireland, vol. 

ii. p. 346. 

t Spiritual Despotism, sect. iv. p. 177, et preced. Eng. ed. 

% Bampton Lectures, pp. 20, 349, 351, 352, &c. See also in further 
illustration of the republicanism of presbytery, Neal's Puritans, vol. i. 
p. 469; vol. ii. pp. 6, 7, 14. 16, 20, 93. Milner's Life of Watts, pp. 79, 
82, S3, 85. Baxter's Views on, in Edinb. Rev. Oct. 1839, p. 111. 
Soame's Elizabethan Rel. Hist. pp. 35, 70, 165, 179, 180, 184, 414, 518, 
545, 548, 587, 592, 593. Rogers's Life of Howe, pp. 364, 365. Divine 
Right of the Ministry, part ii. p. 107. Rutherford's Plea for Paul's 
Presbytery, p. iii. and pp. 83, 199, 247. Gillespie's Aaron's Rod Blos- 
soming, pp. 176-182. Sketch of the History and Princ. of the Presb. 
Ch. in England, pp. 30, 35, 43. The fullest authorities, in the words 
of the original and scarce writings of the puritans in every age, will 
be found in Hanbury's Memorials of the Independents or Congrega- 
tionalists, of which two volumes have already appeared. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



139 



of them by distinct avowal.^' It has also been proved, 
that the substantial portion of South Carolina, and other 
colonies, were either originally, or eventually, presbyte- 
rian emigrants, who sought, in this new world, a refuge 
from oppression, and the enjoyment of freedom.! Now, 
what we affirm, is, that the principles which gave birth 
to this American republic, were brought here, and were 
nurtured into full maturity, by these presbyterians. True 
it is, that they came here encased by the intolerant pre- 
judices with which popery, their hard foster-mother, had 
imbued the minds of men. True it is, that in their first 
movements, we behold a most grotesque combination of 
liberty and tyranny, freedom and intolerance. But many 
of them were far in advance of their age, and all ulti- 
mately learned to think, and to act, in accordance with 
the genius of our republican Christianity. The spirit of 
liberty was among them ; and in the free air of this new 
world, untainted as yet by the breath of spiritual and civil 
despotism, it soon attained to a vigorous manhood, and, 
bursting those chains by which, for long ages, she had 
been fettered, stood forth redeemed, regenerated, and 
disenthralled. Before the revolution there were thou- 
sands of christians, who had arrived at the fixed conclu- 
sion, that the civil magistrate has nothing to do with 
religion in his official capacity, but to protect the citizen 
in that form of worship which he prefers, and to secure to 
all men liberty of conscience. We have seen, that, in the 
very first adoption of their standards of faith, our pres- 
byterian fathers erased all that militated against this 
opinion. We have seen, too, that it was through the 
powerful efforts of presbyterians, the separation between 
the church and the state was first secured, and perma- 
nently established. All the principles which are now 

* See Dr. Hodge's Hist, of Presb. Ch. and Dr. Lang's Relig. Educ. 
in America, pp. 35, 309,310. Also, Congreg. Order, Hist. Acct. 
t See Dr. Hodge's Hist, of Presb. Ch. part i. 



140 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



embodied in the fundamental laws of this country, were 
taught by these same despised and persecuted followers 
of Calvin, long before the fathers of those who framed 
our civil constitutions were born. The revolution only 
gave an opportunity for developing their strength and 
purity. They were then brought forth, from the hearts 
of men and the pages of theology, to the field of action. 
Their beauty, their power, their divinity, commended 
them to universal acceptance, until finally they became 
completely triumphant. 

Let that great philosophical inquirer into our institu- 
tions, M. Tocqueville, attest the truth of what we say. 
* If,' says he, # ' we carefully examine the social and po- 
litical state of America, after having studied its history, 
we shall remain perfectly convinced that not an opinion, 
not a custom, not a law, I may even say not an event, is 
upon record which the origin of that people will not ex- 
plain.' ' At the period of the first emigrations, the parish 
system, that fruitful germ of free institutions, was deeply 
rooted in the habits of the English ; and with it the doc- 
trine of the sovereignty of the people had been introduced 
even into the bosom of the monarchy of the house of 
Tudor.' 1 The emigrants, or, as they deservedly styled 
themselves the pilgrims, belonged to that English sect, 
the austerity of whose principles had acquired for them 
the name of puritans. Puritanism was not merely a re- 
ligious doctrine, but it corresponded in many points with 
the most absolute democratic and republican theories. It 
was this tendency which had roused its most dangerous 
adversaries. Persecuted by the government of the 
mother-country, and disgusted by the habits of a society 
opposed to the rigor of their own principles, the puritans 
went forth to seek some rude and unfrequented part of 
the world, where they could live according to their own 



* Democr. in Am. vol. i. pp. 27, 28, 31, 32, 35. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



Ml 



opinions, and worship God in freedom ! ' ' A democracy, 
more perfect than any which antiquity had dreamed of, 
started in full size and panoply from the midst of an 
ancient feudal society.' 

Let any man, we again say, attentively compare the 
solemn leagues and covenants, by which the continental 
and Scottish reformers, and the puritans and non-conform- 
ists at a later period, pledged themselves to one another 
by their lives, property, and sacred honor, and bound 
themselves to spend and be spent in the cause of civil 
and religious freedom, with our declaration of independ- 
ence, and he will, we think, allow, that, in the former, we 
have the plan, the spirit, and the prototype of the latter* 

The politicians, therefore, who drew up the fundamen- 
tal laws of these new states, only expressed the wishes of 

* The honorable individual to whom this work is inscribed, first 
suggested this idea to the author. He has just found it expressed in 
the able discourse of the Rev. John McLeod, on Protestantism. (New 
York, 1843, pp. 21, 22.) ' And we have ourselves heard another dis- 
tinguished civilian [Hon. Gulian C. Verplanck] of our own State, in 
a public address, trace the origin of the declaration of American inde- 
pendence to the National Covenant of Scotland. Nor was it a mere 
flight of fancy. The Scottish reformers from popery had drunk deep 
at the fountains of protestantism, as they had been opened on the con- 
tinent of Europe, and especially in republican Geneva; or, rather, 
they had drunk, along with the continental reformers, at the same 
open fountain of God's word. They succeeded the reformers of the 
continent in the movement against antichrist, and had all the advan- 
tage of their lights. Their covenants were bonds of union among 
themselves, and public declarations of the grounds of their opposition 
to the antichristian system, in all its parts. And they were distin- 
guished, first, as connecting civil and religious liberty together in the 
definitions of rights which they made — and, secondly, in combining all 
classes of the community in the effort to secure them. As first 
formed, and afterwards renewed at various crises of their history, the 
National Covenant of Scotland was a declaration of the independence 
of the Church of Christ, as a distinct community from the State ; 
and of both Church and State from all foreign control. It was sub- 
scribed by the mass of the people, as well as the privileged orders. 
And as ultimately embodied with additions, in the solemn league and 
covenant, it became the constitution of the British empire. Under it, 
the presbyterians of Scotland and the north of Ireland, the puritans of 
England, of whom the majority were presbyterians, and all other 
protestants who chose to receive it, united together in the strife for 
liberty, which had already commenced.' 



142 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



the entire presbyterian community, when they inserted 
provisions for securing complete religious liberty.*" In- 
deed, the very style of some of the most famous of these 
celebrated enactments was in exact accordance with that 
which christians had previously employed in writing on 
the same subject. And it agrees better with the truth to 
say, that forms of 'political government were framed in con- 
formity to principles received by these presbyterians, who 
were the most numerous class of christians among us, 
than that the converse of this took place. Our noble pres- 
byterian forefathers, in many petitions and memorials, 
written with singular ability, demanded the establishment 

Of ABSOLUTE LIBERTY, JUST AND TRUE LIBERTY, FULL AND 

impartial liberty, in the proper sense of these terms.f 

If ever the great principles which led to our revolu- 
tion are fairly canvassed, and the causes, which, amid 
so many discouragements, led us on to triumph, are 
fairly stated, it will be found that our faith and its teach- 
ers had much to do in obtaining our liberty. The blood 
of our people has stained, and their bones have bleach- 
ed, on every battle-field of our country. If papacy or 
prelacy had prevailed in our land, our new free States 
would be provinces of Great Britain to the present hour. 
"Withdraw from this land all the civil benefits which it has 
derived from the pilgrim and presbyterian fathers, and the 
remainder would be scarcely worth the possessing.^ 

' The part taken by presbyterians in the contest with 
the mother country^ was, indeed, at the time, often 
made a ground of reproach ; and the connection between 
their efforts for the security of their religious liberty, and 
opposition to the oppressive measures of parliament, was 

* Tocquev. Dem. in Am. ii. pp. 317, 318. 

t Dr. Rice's Considerations on Religion. Richmond, 1832, p. 57. 
t Rev. Nicholas Murray, New Jersey. 
§ Hodge's Hist, part ii. p. 484. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



143 



then distinctly seen* Mr. Galloway, a prominent ad- 
vocate of the government, ascribed, in 1774, the revolt 
and revolution mainly to the action of the presbyteri- 
an clergy and laity as early as 1764, when the proposi- 
tion for a general synod emanated from a committee 
appointed for that purpose in Philadelphia. t This was 
a great exaggeration and mistake, but it indicates the 
close connection between the civil and religious part 
of the controversy. The same writer describes the op- 
ponents of the government, as an ' united faction of con- 
gregationalists, presbyterians, and smugglers.' Another 
writer of the same period says, ' you will have discovered, 
that I am no friend to presbyterians, and that I fix all the 
blame of these extraordinary American proceedings up- 
on them.'t He goes on, ' believe, sir, the presbyterians 
have been the chief and principal instruments in all these 
flaming measures ; and they always do and ever will act 
against government, from that restless and turbulent anti- 
monarchical spirit which has always distinguished them 
every where, when they had, or by any means could as- 
sume power, however illegally.' 

' As the conduct of the presbyterian clergy during the re- 
volutionary war is not a matter of dispute, all that we are 
called upon to do,' adds Dr. Hodge, ' is briefly to exhibit the 
action of the synod in reference to this subject.' 

The synod of New York were the very first to declare 

* ' So also in England, on the question of the American war,' says 
Dr. Vaughan, (Congregationalism, p. 122,) ' dissenters were more in- 
clined to the side of the colonists, than to that of the mother country, 
which exposed them to much resentment and suffering. Then came 
the revolution in France, and, in the early days of that movement, dis- 
senters expressed themselves strongly in favor of the changes contem- 
plated in that kingdom, and their conduct, in this instance, called forth 
further indignation from the same quarter.' 

t Reed's Address, p. 51 

X By presbyterians, this writer means non-episcopalians. 



144 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



themselves in favor of the struggle, a year before the de- 
claration of independence, and to encourage and guide 
their people, then in arms * During the war, they sus- 
tained and invigorated the forces of their beleagured coun- 
try ; so that presbyterians were every where treated with 
special cruelty and revenge.! At the close of the war, they 
again addressed their people, and offered up praise to God, 
who had given them the victory 4 They were the first to 
recognise the declaration of independence, when made ; 
and they materially aided in the passage of that noble 
act.§ 

' When the declaration of independence was under de- 
bate in the continental congress, doubts and forebodings 
were whispered through that hall. The houses hesitated, 
wavered, and, for a while, the liberty and slavery of the 
nation appeared to hang in an even scale. It was then an 
aged patriarch arose, a venerable and stately form ; his 
head white with the frost of years. Every eye went to 
him with the quickness of thought, and remained with the 
fixedness of the polar star. He cast on the assembly a 
look of inexpressible interest and unconquerable determi- 
nation ; while on his visage, the hue of age was lost in the 
flush of a burning patriotism, that fired his cheek. ' There 
is/ said he, when he saw the house wavering, ' There is 
a tide in the affairs of men — a nick of time. We per- 
ceive it now before us. To hesitate, is to consent to our 
own slavery. That noble instrument upon your table, 
which insures immortality to its author, should be sub- 
scribed this very morning, by every pen in the house. 
He that will not respond to its accents, and strain every 
nerve to carry into effect its provisions, is unworthy the 

* Dr. Lang's Relig. and Educ. in Amer. p. 72, where their letter is 
given. 

t Ibid, p. 77, 78. See also Dr. Miller's Life of Dr. Rogers, p. 234, 
8vo. ed. 

X Ibid, p. 78. 
§ Ibid, p. 94. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



145 



name of a freeman. For my own part, of property I have 
some — of reputation, more. That reputation is staked, 
that property is pledged, on the issue of this contest. And 
although these gray hairs must soon descend into the sep- 
ulchre, I would infinitely rather they should descend thith- 
er by the hands of the public executioner, than desert, at 
this crisis, the sacred cause of my country.' Who was it 
that uttered this memorable speech, — potent in turning 
the scales of the nation's destiny, and worthy to be pre- 
served in the same imperishable record in which is regis- 
tered the not more eloquent speech ascribed to John 
Adams, on the same sublime occasion ? ' It was John 
Witherspoon — at that day the most distinguished pres- 
byterian minister west of the Atlantic ocean — the father 
of the presbyterian church in the United States.'^ 

An inquiry into the matter would show, by an actual bi- 
ography of the veterans of the revolution, that a large pro- 
portion of them were connected with the presbyterian 
church. Without attempting to make such an investiga- 
tion, we will merely mention the following facts which have 
incidentally fallen into our hands in reference to South 
Carolina. 

The battles of the ' Cowpens,' of' King's Mountain' — 
and also the severe skirmish known as ' Huck's Defeat,' 
are among the most celebrated in this State, as giving a 
turning point to the contest of the revolution. General Mor- 
gan, who commanded at the Cowpens, was a presbyterian 
elder, and lived and died in the communion of the church. 
General Pickens, who made all the arrangements for the 
battle, was also a presbyterian elder. And nearly all un- 
der their command were presbyterians. In the battle of 
King's Mountain, Colonel Campbell, Colonel James Wil- 
liams, (who fell in the action,) Colonel Cleaveland, Colonel 
Shelby, and Colonel Sevier, were all presbyterian elders ; 



* Rev. J. M. Krebs. 
13 



146 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



and the body of their troops were collected from presby teri- 
an settlements. At Huck's Defeat, in York, Colonel Brat- 
ton and Major Dickson, were both elders of the presbyte- 
rian church. Major Samuel Morrow, who was with Colo- 
nel Sumpterin four engagements, and at King's Mountain, 
Blackstock's, and other battles, and whose home was in the 
army till the termination of hostilities, was, for about fif- 
ty years, a ruling elder of the presbyterian church* 

These facts we have collected from high authority, and 
they deserve to be prominently noticed. Here are ten offi- 
cers of distinction, all bearing rule in the church of Christ — 
and all bearing arms in defence of our liberties. Braver and 
better officers cannot be found in the annals of our coun- 
try — nor braver or better troops. 

It may also be mentioned in this connection, that Mari- 
on, Hnger, and other distinguished men of revolutionary 
memory, were of Huguenot, that is, full-blooded presbyte- 
rian, descent. 

' A presbyterian loyalist/ says Mr. William B. Reed, 
himself an episcopalian, ' was a thing unheard of. Patri- 
otic clergymen of the established church were exceptions 
to general conduct ; for while they were patriots at a sacri- 
fice, and ill spite of restraints and imaginary obligations, 
which many found it impossible to disregard, it was natur- 
al sympathy and voluntary action, that placed the dissent- 
ers under the banner of revolutionary redress. It is a so- 
ber judgment, which cannot be questioned, that, had inde- 
pendence and its maintenance depended on the approval 
and ready sanction of the colonial episcopal clergy, mis- 
rule and oppression must have become far more intense, 
before they would have seen a case of justifiable rebel- 
lion. The debt of gratitude which independent America 
owes to the dissenting clergy and laity, never can be paid.'f 

* He died in Spartanburgh district, S. C. in Feb. 1842, aged 82. 

t Address before the Phflomathean Society, Philad. 1838, pp. 59, 60. 



CHAPTER IV. 



PRESBYTERY MORE REPUBLICAN THAN OTHER FORMS OF 
CHRISTIAN POLITY. 

It remains that we should say something on the com- 
parative claims to the character of republicanism, of our 
own and other ecclesiastical systems. Comparisons are 
always odious. We shall, therefore, discharge the in- 
cumbent duty now forced upon us, with as much lenity 
and despatch as truth and justice will admit. 

Passing by the minor differences existing between the 
presbyterian church, strictly so called, and other denomi- 
nations essentially agreeing with it, and who may be 
properly included under the general term presbytery, we 
will institute a claim of partial superiority to our breth- 
ren of the Methodist Episcopal church ; of still greater to 
the Protestant Episcopal church in these United States ; 
and an entire superiority to the system patronized by the 
high-church prelatists, and established among their Roman 
Catholic brethren. 

In making this comparison, we must bear in mind 
one rule of simple and unquestionable authority in the 
premises. To deny the first principles of any system is 
to deny that system ; however, in less important points, 
there may be agreement with it. ' The rights of particu- 
lar nations cannot subsist,' says Sydney, ' if general prin- 
ciples, contrary to them, are received as true.'* And in 
like manner, we must conclude, that ecclesiastical sys- 
tems, embodying principles contrary to those which 
are fundamental to republicanism, or which fail to recog- 
nise those principles, are in their measure contrary to it, 
or irreconcilable with it. 



* Disc, on Govt. ch. i. § 4. 



148 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



SECTION I. 

TJie system of presbytery more republican than the polity of 
the Methodist Episcopal church. 

We confess, that in perusing the articles on ' the re- 
publicanism of methodist polity,' already referred to,* we 
were led to entertain a higher opinion of the system, 
than we had previously cherished. There are many 
things in which an analogy may be drawn out between 
methodism and republicanism, and there is much in it 
adapted to the popular mind. In its doctrine of the min- 
istry, it is essentially presbyterian, for while it admits of 
bishops as superintendents, it teaches that there is but one 
order of ministers, and that these are, in order, equal to the 
rest. To this doctrine it has fully committed itself by the 
republication, under its own sanction, of the works of Lord 
King,t and Mr. Powell4 Under the name of an office, 
however, it attributes to its bishops very unlimited 
powers. And the question, therefore, is, whether this 
analogy will hold in regard to those principles which are 
fundamental to a republic, and not merely in those which 
are secondary in their importance, or common to it with 
other forms of government. 

Now among the principles which are fundamental to 
the very existence of a republic we found these. 

1. The equality of all its members, implying that the 
laws are made equally by all, acting through their repre- 
sentatives, and that none are elevated to any station in 
which they can act or legislate, independently of the 
people. 

* These were first printed in ( The Christian Advocate,' and repub- 
lished in 5 The Southern Christian Advocate.' 
t The Primitive Govt, of the Church. 

% On the Apostolical Succession, which is a thorough presbyterian 
book. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



149 



2. The sovereign power of the people, as the source of 
all authority; their intervention in all public affairs ; their 
election of all officers ; the consequent responsibility of 
all officers to them for the discharge of their duty, and 
the management of funds ; and their knowledge and con- 
trol, through their representatives, of all expenditures. 

3. The extension of the right of suffrage, in the 
appointment of officers, to all capable of exercising it, or, 
in other words, the rights, privileges, and immunities of 
the laity. 

These principles, among others, are essential to 
constitute any government fully republican. But are 
these found in the government and discipline of the 
Methodist Episcopal church? We think not; for the 
people, and a large portion of the clergy, have no partici- 
pation in the legislative assemblies of the church; the 
people had no voice in the original constitution of the 
church, although the code of discipline was drawn up 
and framed by men ; the people have no voice in the 
election, ordination, removal, or dismissal of ministers ; 
the elective and representative rights of the people are 
therefore denied, and the management of funds in a great 
measure withdrawn from their control. We do not 
enter into particulars, although we might in all fairness 
do so, as, in the articles alluded to, there is a formal com- 
parison of methodist polity with presbyterianism, on this 
very ground of their republican character. We are saved 
this trouble, however, by the admissions made in some 
articles on ' the Methodist Church Government,' in ' the 
Southern Christian Advocate/* by which it would appear 
that this system does not base its merits upon its republi- 
canism, but upon other qualities. In reply to the charge 
of the anti-republican character of this polity, it is there 
said : 



* See Dec. 23, 1842, and Jan. 6, 1843. 
3 3* 



150 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



' But may we not reasonably object to have our eccle- 
siastical system tried by a standard with which it holds 
no common first principles ? And may we not challenge 
the competency of the court which condemns us, when 
we find Christianity itself subjected to the same condem- 
nation ? It is a master-axiom in our republican creed, 
that the popular will is the source of law. But we find 
in the statute-book of methodism a system of laws 
which did not originate in the will of the people. It fol- 
lows, of course, that methodism is opposed to republi- 
canism.'* 

Again the editor says, 'it is not difficult to dispose of 
the objections based on such terms as, ' the equal and 
inalienable rights of the people' — ' supreme legislature 
of the church' — ' rights of methodist laymen,' and so 
forth. Here is the methodist church. Its ministers have 
offered to our acceptance doctrines and discipline which 
they claim, not as inventions of their own, but as the 
commands of Him who has said,' &c. 

Now all this is very well; but a difficult question 
previously arises ; when and where did Christ delegate 
power to the ministers alone to constitute themselves the 
church, to draw up ' methodism, doctrine, and discipline, 
as the clearest and best exposition and summary of what 
they believed to be in the Bible,' and then to offer this 
to God's people, without giving the great mass of the 
church any possible opportunity of exercising their rights 
in ascertaining what are the principles of the church, as 
laid down in the scriptures? What is this, but to make these 
travelling clergy the church, and to clothe them with the 
powers of the whole body of the faithful. 

But again the editor says. ' Now, then, for the question 
of rights. There are natural rights, social rights, civil rights, 

*The editor goes on to show, that Christianity is equally opposed 
to republicanism. How far this is the case, we leave our readers to 
determine. See our remarks in chap.i. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



151 



christian rights, methodist rights. In this scale of rights, 
it will be seen, with half a glance, that social rights inter- 
fere to some extent with natural rights ; and civil or po- 
litical rights limit social ; christian rights demand surren- 
ders, which civil rights may not claim ; and, last of all, 
methodist rights are limited, and tied down to sacrifices 
of natural, social, and even christian rights, which are 

demanded by no other ecclesiastical system 

. . . And, finally, as a methodist, by the essential con- 
ditions of the system, he must, in limine, deliberately sur- 
render what, as a christian of some other denomination, 
he might retain. A man may be a sincere and pious 
presbyterian, episcopalian, or baptist, and yet be unpre- 
pared for the amount of privations and sacrifices, and the 
surrender of certain privileges, which the methodist 
church demands.' 

Again, ' our itinerant organization renders unnecessary 
any lay representation, either in the general or the 
annual conferences. To other churches, constructed on 
a different organic principle, such a representation may 
be necessary, for any thing we know to the contrary.' 

Again, in proof of the working and success of their sys- 
tem, a contrast is presented between its success and 
that of the Protestant Methodist church. ' We need only 
remind the reader, that the Methodist Protestant church, 
organized specifically and purposely on so-called repub- 
lican principles, in which a lay representation in the gen- 
eral and annual conferences is a fundamental element, 
has been in operation some twelve or fourteen years.' 

As it regards the rights of the laity, it is also said. 
\ Now we admit to the full extent, the alleged peculiarity. 
The constitution of methodism, is such as to demand a 
relinquishment of the privilege of choosing a pastor. 
The people actually have no voice in the selection of 
their spiritual guides. And this peculiarity, so far from 
being a late discovery, is just as old as methodism. It 



152 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



has been from the very beginning the main centre of our 
strength.' 

We wage no quarrel with our methodist brethren. 
They are cut loose from all European influence. They 
are, we doubt not, ' heart and hand' republicans in civil 
matters. They have all right, humanly speaking, to 
frame their own code of discipline ; to restrict its supreme 
power to their ministry, and to deny it to the people, so 
long as it shall appear to the people to be for the common 
advantage of the church that it should be so. And truly 
they have accomplished wonderful things, for which we 
are glad. But when our methodist brethren claim com- 
parison with us, and superiority to us, on the ground of the 
republican character of our respective systems, we must 
maintain, that the essential principles of republicanism, 
before mentioned, are found wanting in the methodist 
polity, while they are prominent in our own. Neither can 
we believe, that the marvellous success of this denomination 
is to be attributed to its constitution, so far as it is ' opposed 
to republicanism,'* but to the zeal, energy, and devoted 
piety with which they have proclaimed the gospel. And 
we must believe, that the adaptation of their system to 
that republican form laid down, as we think, in the 
scriptures, would immeasurably increase, and not diminish, 
their power to do good. Thus much we say in all kind- 
ness. Neither should we have said any thing, had we 
not been called upon to do so, by these recent and re- 
peated efforts to produce a contrary impression. With 
our brethren of the Methodist Episcopal churches we de- 
sire to cultivate the kindliest relations, and a growing 
harmony and cooperation in every good word and work. 



* See extract at p. 15. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



153 



SECTION II. 

Presbytery more republican than the Protestant Episcopal 
church. 

We pass on to consider the superiority of the presby- 
terian polity to that of the Protestant Episcopal church in 
these United States. Before, however, proceeding to 
remark upon its present constitution, we feel it but justice 
to ourselves to make some reference to its past history. 
And while, we would again say, that nothing can be further 
from our intention than to impute to the prelates, clergy, 
or members of the episcopal church in this country, an 
anti-republican sjririt, or any want of the most devoted 
attachment to the interests of the commonwealth ; or 
insincerity in their avowal, that, as they regard it, the 
ecclesiastical polity of their church is in perfect keeping 
with the genius of republicanism ; yet we may be allowed 
to state, that very opposite views of the necessary ten- 
dency of that system have been insisted upon by its 
ablest advocates. Of this declaration, we will present 
one pregnant illustration, taken from the work of Doctor 
Chandler, in which he very ably advocated the then un- 
popular scheme of an American episcopate. After going 
through an examination of the religious grounds, upon 
which the propriety of this scheme was based, he pro- 
ceeds to show, that considerations of a political nature 
were of themselves sufficient to decide the question, 
whether or not bishops should be introduced into Amer- 
ica. He says, # ' But, notwithstanding, episcopacy and 
monarchy are, in their frame and constitution, best, suited 
to each other. Episcopacy can never thrive in a republi- 
can government, nor republican principles in an episcopal 

* Appeal on behalf of the Ch. of Eng. in America, N. York, 1767. 
p. 115. 



154 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



church. For the same reasons, in a mixed monarchy, no 
form of ecclesiastical government can so exactly harmo- 
nize with the state, as that of a qualified episcopacy. 
And as they are mutually adapted to each other, so they 
are mutually introductive of each other. He that prefers 
monarchy in the state, is more likely to approve of epis- 
copacy in the church, than a rigid republican. On the 
other hand, he that is for a parity and a popular govern- 
ment in the church, will more easily be led to approve of 
a similar form of government in the state, how little 
soever he may suspect it himself. It is not then to be 
wondered, if our civil rulers have always considered 
episcopacy as the surest friend of monarchy ; and it may 
reasonably be expected from those in authority, that they 
will support and assist the church in America, if from no 
other motives, yet from a regard to the state, with which 
it has so friendly and close an alliance.'* 

Until after the revolution there were, it will be recol- 
lected, no prelates in this country. On this subject, Ban- 
croft says, ' Priestcraft! did not emigrate ; by the stead- 
fast attraction of interest it was retained in the old 
world; to the forests of America religion came as a com- 
panion ; the American mind never bowed to an idolatry 
of forms ; and there was not a prelate in the whole 
English part of the continent' 

We have already had occasion to allude, at some 
length, to the violent prejudices which universally pre- 
vailed against the introduction of prelates into this land 
of freedom. $ Bishop White testifies, that so powerful 
was this prejudice against bishops, that ' it was impos- 
sible to have obtained the concurrence of a respectable 

# The same argument was urged about the same time, in his letter 
to Mr. Walpole, on the same subject, by archbishop Seeker, (see Crit. 
Com. on this letter, p. 14,) who says, that there was a kindred con- 
nection between episcopacy and monarchy. Letter, p. 25, Com. p. 63. 

t Hist, of the United States, vol. ii. p. 453 t 

| See Lect. on Apost. Succ, 



Ecclesiastical republicanism. 



155 



number of laymen, in any measure for the obtaining of 
an American bishop.'* And that this prejudice was 
based partly on an opinion, ' that episcopacy itself was 
unfriendly to the political principles of our republican 
governments,' is candidly allowed by the biographer of 
Bishop White.f 

This opposition, which the whole past history of pre- 
lacy was sufficient to establish, was by no means con- 
fined to other denominations, but was extensively preva- 
lent among episcopalians themselves. Bishop White 
states, that such were the prejudices, even of episcopalians, 
* against the name, and much more against the office, of 
bishop,' that, but for the introduction of the laity into the 
government of the church, no general organization could 

* Mem. of Prot. Episc. Church, p. 48. This is admitted by Doctor 
Hawks, in his remarks on Canon xxi. of the Episcopal church, 
where he says, [Constitutions and Canons, p. 215, N. Y. 1841.] 'the 
effect of the American revolution upon the church had been, to attach 
to it no small share of odium, and few cared to enrol themselves 
among the clergy of a communion, small in numbers, and the object 
also of popular dislike. Prejudice, too. served to perpetuate ignorance 
of the opinions and views of the Episcopal church, (or, as it was then 
more usually called, the church of England.) and, without inquiry, 
many cast a suspicious glance at a church, which was not horror- 
stricken at the bare thought of the prelatical abomination of bishops, 
and considered her as nothing less than the legitimate offspring of 
that naughty mother, the scarlet lady, that sitteth on the seven hills.' 

t Dr. Wilson's Mem. p. 93. In illustration of the force of that ex- 
treme and bitter prejudice which existed in every portion of the Brit- 
ish colonies against the introduction of bishops, the following inci- 
dent is related in Mr. Blackburne's Critical Commentary on arch- 
bishop Seeker's Letter to Mr. Walpole. In 1749, Mr. Hooper, one of 
the Council of Barbadoes, was introduced to bishop Sherlock in Lon- 
don, and after relating an instance of the arbitrary conduct of the 
commissary, he said, [p. 40,] ' And now, my Lord, will you send a 
bishop to us, who will have this, and greater powers V His Lordship 
answered, ' It is not I that send bishops to America, it is the society 
for propagating the gospel in foreign parts, who are the movers of this 
matter.' Mr. Hooper replied, ' I do not care who are the movers, but 
this I can with confidence assure your Lordship, that if ever a bishop 
sets foot on our island, the people will toss him into the sea.' On 
this controversy respecting the American episcopate, some interesting 
information will be found in Dr. Miller's Life of Dr. Rogers, p. 185, 
first edition, and an address on the subject, by the convention organ- 
ized for the purpose of defeating the project, at p. 189. 



156 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



probably have been formed.* And while this opposition 
to the episcopate was thus powerful every where, it was 
peculiarly so in South Carolina. ' Here,' says bishop 
White, 'most was to be apprehended, an opposition to 
the very principle of EPiscoPACY.'t It was, therefore, 
feared, that the churches in this State would not comply 
with the invitation to unite in the proposed organization, 
and ' the danger was ' only ' warded off' by a proposal 
to accompany their compliance with an express proviso, 
1 that there was to be no bishop settled in that 
State.'! 

That episcopalians more generally espoused the British 
cause, in the revolutionary struggle, than presbyterians, 
is candidly admitted by bishop White, who says, that of 
those who were thus inclined, ' a great proportion were 
episcopalians.' § In New England, the episcopal clergy 
were royalists, almost to a. man.ll In being so, they only 
acted according to their principles ; for it had been, up till 
then, an established maxim, that prelacy and monarchy 
were collateral terms, and promotive of one another. And 
we may, without vanity, attribute whatever of a republican 
and popular character is found in the present constitution 
of the American Episcopal church, to the indirect influence 
of presbyterianism.1T Bishop White's plan for the organ- 
ization of the church, in 1782, in his ' Case of the Episco- 
pal Churches in the United States, Considered,' is obvi- 
ously drawn from the presbyterian model, and as certainly 
embodies many of the principles of presbyterianism. And 
that the introduction of the laity into the councils of the 
episcopal church, in this country, and to a full represent- 

* Mem. of the Prot. Ep. Ch. p. 78. 
t Ibid, p. 91. 

\ Ibid, p. 91, and Dalcho's History. 

§ Mem. of Prot. Ep. Ch. p. 48. See also the facts stated on pp. 8, 
49, 58, 59, 60, 78, 97, 105, 106. 

|| See Dr. Lang's Religion and Educ. in Am. pp. 71, 83. 
\ Ibid, pp. 310, 311. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



157 



ation in all its courts, was regarded as presbyterian and 
anti-prelatic, we are well assured.* Its proposal was 
made a ground of objection, and for this very reason, by 
the English prelates, when solicited to bestow the episco- 
pate.! His advocacy of this feature of the constitution 
was also made the foundation of a charge against bishop 
White, that he ' entertained a design to set up an episco- 
pacy, on the ground of presbyterial and lay authority.' t 
On this account, also, was the plan long opposed by 
the episcopal influence in the State of Connecticut.^ 
Bishop Seabury ' disapproved of submitting the gen- 
eral concerns of the American church to any other than 
bishops,' II and regarded the introduction of the laity as 

' INCONGRUOUS TO EVERY IDEA OF EPISCOPAL GOVERN- 

ment.'IF This is still the opinion of many members of 
that church, including all those who are favorable to ' the 
antichristian heresy' of high churchism, or, as it is now 
termed, Puseyism. There is now in existence, among all 
such, an actual conspiracy against the rights of the laity, 
as preserved in this representative feature of the Amer- 
ican episcopal church, which is daily strengthening, and 
which is based upon a deep and conscientious belief of 
its irreconcilableness with prelatical authority.tf 

In no case could the character of our church stand out 
more brightly, than in contrast with the present condition of 
the prelacy, in reference to this heresy. She is now endan- 
gered by the local and Jesuitical plottings of many, perhaps 
a full half, of her professed members, who are determined 

* That presbyterians exerted this influence, see stated by Dr. Lang, 
in Relig. and Educ. in Amer. pp. 310, 311. 

t White's Mem. of Prot. Ep. Ch. pp. 16, 94. 

% Ibid, p. 82. 

$ Ibid, pp. 82, 202. 

|| Ibid, p. 99. 

If Ibid, p. 345. 

The Churchman's Monthly Review so terms it. 

ft See the evidence presented in Lect. on the Apostolic Succ. pp. 
309-312. 

14 



158 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



to Romanize and unprotestantize her doctrines and spirit. 
And what can her lay-members — the great staple of the 
church — what, in this emergency, can they do ? They, 
many of them, weep in secret places, and mourn bitterly 
for the evil that is coming upon them. But what can 
they do towards lifting up a standard against this flood of 
iniquity ? Alas ! alas ! They can do no more, as Charlotte 
Elizabeth has pitifully expressed it, than ' drag into open 
daylight,' by the aid of the press, the guilty culprits* No 
more than this can they effect. And if the leaven leavens 
the minds of their bishops and clergy, as it is fast doing, 
they have no other refuge, than the bitterness of unavail- 
ing sorrow. And thus it is, that, even in this country, 
there is, we find, no possibility of lifting a voice or a 
hand — in a church capacity — against those bishops and 
clergy, who are spreading the infection of this dangerous 
heresy through the length and breadth of the land. 

Even, however, as the constitution of the Episcopal 
church now stands, there is much that is in contrariety to 
all the principles of republicanism, as we shall proceed 
to show. The people are utterly deprived of their elective 
rights, the pastor being called and retained, in any church, 
not by the people, but by the vestry, subject to the appro- 
bation of the bishop, who may confirm or reject the ap- 
pointment.! ' Under this canon,' says Dr. Hawks, com- 
menting on canon 34th,$ ' the bishop must summon all 
the presbyters belonging to the diocese, and a majority of 
the whole thus convened, may, with the bishop, decree a 
separation, and prescribe the terms. This is an instance, 
remarkable in the legislation of our church, for one feature ; 
it allows to the clergy, as a class, the privilege of deter- 
mining, as against the laity, when a brother clergyman has 
been unjustly or harshly dealt with, by his congregation; 

* Peep into No. 90, p. 48. 

t Constit. and Canons of Prot. Ep. Ch. by Dr. Hawks, pp. 265, 269, 
can. 38. 

\ Constit. and Canons of Prot. Ep. Ch. p. 318, can. 34. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



159 



and they have, in fixing the terms of separation, the power 
which, in some instances, they have exercised, of decree- 
ing, that the congregation shall pay to the clergyman a 
sum of money, as a compensation to him, for the pecun- 
iary loss he sustains, in being driven to a separation by 
their conduct' 

The whole spiritual government of the church is vested 
in each pastor, subject to the bishop, to the entire exclu- 
sion of the laity, thus recognising the doctrine, that the 
clergy constitute the church, and that the people have no 
other province, than that of dutiful obedience to the powers 
that be. In this way, the fundamental principle of repub- 
licanism — the intervention of the people in all public 
affairs — is overthrown, and the teaching of scripture and 
primitive antiquity utterly set at nought* Lay elders, 
or rulers, in the congregation, chosen by the people, were, 
in fact, originally designed for the English church, and 
rejected on the very ground of their republican character 
and tendency.! 

There is, in the episcopal church, no code of discipline, 
by which the lay members, and ' the inferior clergy,' may 
ascertain and limit the exercise of authority. ' In the 

* ' I know/ says archbishop Whitgift, ' that in the primitive church, 
they had, in every church, certain seniors, to whom the government of 
the congregation was committed, but that was before there was any 
christian prince or magistrate, that openly professed the gospel.' 

t Bishop Burnet says, ' There were many learned and pious divines 
in the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's reign, who, being driven beyond 
sea, had observed the new model, set up in Geneva and other places, 
for the censuring of scandalous persons, of mixed judicatories of the 
ministers and laity, (called by the bishop a little before, elders,) and these, 
reflecting on the great looseness of life which had universally been 
complained of in King Edward's time, thought such a platform 
might be an effectual way for keeping out a return of the like disor- 
ders.' The bishop tells also the reason, which induced Elizabeth not 
to adopt this. ' Lord Burleigh and others, demonstrated to her, that 
these new models would certainly bring with them a great abatement 
of her prerogative ; since, if the concerns of religion came into popular 
hands, there would be a power set up, distinct from hers, over which 
she could have no authority. This she perceived well, and there- 
fore resolved to maintain the ancient government of the church 1 



160 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



church,' says Dr. Hawks,* ' we may be said to have no 
judicial system. By the constitution, the mode of trying 
offending clergymen is to be regulated, in each State, by 
its own rules. Some dioceses have made no rules at all. 
Uniformity, in judicial proceeding, is therefore wanting. 
But there is a greater evil than this ; it is the want of 
uniformity of interpretation. Misera est servitas, ubi jus 
est vagum aut incertum. Better is it that the law should 
be interpreted erroneously, so that men may at least have 
certainty, than that it should be held to mean one thing 
to-day, and another to-morrow. In vain will any one ask 
what is the law? No man can say. The convict of Mas- 
sachusetts, doubting, as well he may, under such circum- 
stances, the propriety of his intended punishment, would 
fain appeal to some tribunal, competent to adjust con- 
flicting interpretations. But where is such a tribunal ? 
Nowhere in the church. If he brings his case, by way of 
petition, before the general convention, that body has no 
right, under the constitution, to act as a court of appeals. 
If (as Arami Rogers did) he carries it before the house 
of bishops, as little right have they to sit as judges.' 

The laity and ' inferior clergy,' are therefore at the mercy 
of the bishop ; having no court of appeal, to which they 
can carry their case, when aggrieved. 1 We need,' says 
Dr. Hawks ,f ' a court of appeals, with power, authorita- 
tively and finally, to settle the true interpretation of the 
constitution and canons, ut sit finis litium! 

Bishops, in several respects, are clothed with an abso- 
lute power, which is subversive of all liberty, and which 
characterizes the system a spiritual despotism, though 
under many present anomalous checks. Thus, bishops 
are permanent governors, and not elective, and are, there- 
fore, monarchs in their respective dioceses ; in perfect 

* Constit. and Canons, pp. 56, 57, 
t Constit. and Canons, p. 57. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



161 



contrast to the elective governors of our states, and of our 
union. # While thus despotical in each diocese, the bish- 
ops form a senate, oligarchy, or holy alliance of sovereign 
potentates, in the general convention, and all this virtute 
officii, and not by election.! The bishops constitute also a 
close corporation, no one being admissible into their body, 
however elected, without their permission and concur- 
rence.:]: By the doctrine of apostolical succession, it is 
further taught, that all ecclesiastical authority emanates 
from these bishops through a line of succession. They are, 
therefore, hereditary sovereigns. The doctrine of legit- 
imacy, as taught by European politicians, and by which 
the king or emperor was made the fountain of power, 
which flowed down in regular hereditary succession, lies 
at the very root of the apostolic succession. It claims, 
distinctly and formally, that the headship or sovereignty 
of Jesus Christ, has been transferred to the apostles, and 
has flowed down from them through their lineal succes- 
sors, who are styled apostolic bishops. Now this we pro- 
claim to be just as great an usurpation, as if presidents, 
governors, and judges, &c. were to claim to appoint their 
successors, and to transfer their power to them. It is a direct 



* In an old work, 1 The case of the Accommodation Examined,' the 
writer, in commenting on the greater power of a permanent over a tem- 
porary president, remarks, at p. 107, (See also p. Ill, where he fully 
draws out the contrast,) ' What difference lawyers do make, Inter eum 
qui jure suo et ilium qui beneficio tantum alieno jurisdictions habet, and 
what a latitude of power is by them assigned to the former, which unto 
the second, for this very cause they make incompetent, is not for one 
to dip further into, than may conduce for the illustration of common 
reason. Only, as he who is elected to an ordinary office of fixed pres- 
idency, ad vitam, may well and truly be said to be jure suo prases, 
whereas the other, who is thereto chosen by a commission, as it were, 
during pleasure, and no longer, doth by the same rule, alieno tantum 
beneficio prasidere ; so, that this fixedness, imported by the jus suum, 
arising from the investiture of the office, doth considerably advance the 
Episcopus Prases, and discriminate him from a moderator, nominate 
only during pleasure, and absolutely depending upon the beneplacitum 
of his constituent needeth no further explication.' 

t Constit. and Canons, p. 52. 

t Ibid, p. 305. Can. 32. 

14# 



162 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM, 



usurpation of the sovereignty of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
who is the only source and fountain of authority in the 
church.* 

Like all despotic kings, the bishops have a negative on 
all the acts of the general convention, and can thus exer- 
cise dominion over any number less than four-fifths of that 
congress of the churches. ' In the general convention of 
September, 1789, bishop Seabury, with the churches under 
his care, came into the union, but not until a change had 
been made in this article. They made it a condition, that 
this article should be so modified, as ' to declare explicitly 
the rights of the bishops, when sitting in a separate house, 
to originate and propose acts for the concurrence of the 
other house of convention ; and to negative such acts pro- 
posed by the other house, as they may disapprove.' This 
modification was agreed to. Finally, in 1808, the change 
was made, and the words ' unless adhered to by four- 
fifths of the other house,' were stricken out. The article 
was then left in its present form, as already set forth. 
Thus was a veto given to the house of bishops. In one of 
the dioceses, and one only, a canon has been passed, 
giving the bishop an absolute veto on the acts of his own 
convention. In congress, two thirds may pass a law, 
notwithstanding it has been returned with the veto of the 
president. In the diocese alluded to, the veto of the 
bishop is conclusive, and a unanimous vote of the conven- 
tion ivould not pass the canon. It is easy to see how the 
veto power, here, may make the convention a mere body 
for registering episcopal edicts.'! 

The bishops, also, in order to dignify their sovereignties, 
are clothed with the titles becoming imperial grandeur 
and importance. ' They take their titles from the different 
civil commonwealths, over which they hold dominion. 

* See Duffield's Letters to the Rev. Dr. McCoskry. Letter 13th. 
t Constit. and Canons, by Dr. Hawks, pp. 24, 26, 56. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



163 



This is a step beyond European prelacy. The English 
bishops, it has been said, take their titles, not from the 
countries over which their dioceses extend, but from the 
cities in which are their palaces and cathedrals. Thus, 
we have the archbishop of York, not of Yorkshire ; the 
bishop of Chester, not of Cheshire. The catholic arch- 
bishop in the United States, is content to add the city of 
Baltimore to his title, and bishop Fenwick calls himself 
bishop of Boston, not of Massachusetts. But American 
episcopacy assumes a loftier soul. The smallest number 
of episcopal ministers in any one of our States, is seven; 
the largest, that is, in New York, is two hundred and 
ninety-seven. We concede the right of these ministers, 
with their flocks, to put one minister over them all, and 
to call him their bishop, but how the individual thus ap- 
pointed becomes bishop of one of our States, we cannot 
conceive.' 

' It is well to consider ' whereunto such things may grow.' 
From this fashion of adopting titles from our civil common- 
wealths, taken in connection with the fact, that, by fortu- 
itous circumstances, our national chaplaincies, with few 
exceptions, are filled by episcopal ministers, it seems to 
us by no means impossible, that the members of other 
denominations may yet come to be called, even in this 
free land, by the odious title of dissenters. We are even 
now indiscriminately branded as sectarians, and this by a 
party, which, sixty years ago, felt obliged to send men 
across the ocean for consecration, in ord§r that their 
ministry might be perpetuated on this continent.^ 

*The (Boston) Christian Register. That these titles are already 
in extensive circulation, we have proved in Lect. on Apost. Succ. pp. 
323, 324, &c An identity of interest is therefore claimed with Eng- 
land. See Origin and Compil. of the Prayer Book. Philad. 1841. p. 75. 
What are we to think, when we hear this same American clergyman, 
in the same work, p. 101, feelingly bewail the inflicted penalty of a 
nation's wronged, and insulted, and oppressed people, on ' England's 
first Charles, her martyred king, and England's best friend and 
bishop, her martyred Laud.' See, on the character of Laud, Lond. 
Christ. Obs. 1837, pp. 175, 381, 407, 518, 837. 



164 



ECCLESIASTICAL EE PUB LI CAN ISM. 



In all societies there is a tendency to centralization of 
power. This is to be obviated only by the formation of 
several centres and distinct bodies, having a division of 
power* This tendency, which is inherent in prelacy, 
was only held in check in primitive times, ' by the multi- 
tude and smallness of dioceses ;t and in modern times, 
by lodging the supreme power in the king and parlia- 
ment. $ But, in this country, the dioceses of bishops are 
empires, and there is no check to the rapid centralization 
of both government and administration in their hands. 

The jurisdiction assigned to bishops is found to be cor- 
respondent to their sovereignty. No clergyman, however 
unworthy, can be deposed, but by the bishops.^ They 
have the sole discretionary power of dispensing, in the 
case of candidates for the ministry, with the knowledge 
of the Hebrew.ll A candidate for the ministry can only 
apply for admission to the bishop in whose diocese he 
may live, and who may have a prejudice against him ; 
nor can he apply to any other bishop for ordination, 
' without the permission of the former.'IF The bishop, 
too, can refuse orders to any individual whom he may 
judge guilty of contumacy towards him and, if rejected 
in one diocese, this poor victim of persecution will be 
probably rejected in all. ft The bishop can even prevent 
deacons from removing to another diocese, in which they 
may have a field of labor opened up to them, and thus 
compel them to remain where they have nothing to do, 

* See London Quart. Rev. Dec. 1S39. p. 74; and Tocquev. Dem. 
vol. i. p. 90. 

t Ibid, p. 74. 

% Ibid, pp. 74, S3-S5. 

\ Constit. and Canons, p. 33, Can. 6. 

|| Ibid, p. 140, Can. 9. 

1 Ibid, pp. 130, 142, Can. 9. 

Const, and Canons, p. 164, Can. 12. 

ft Ibid, p. 167. See also Wilson's Sacra Privata, pp. 221, 235, and 
Burnet's Vind. of the Ch. of Scotl. p. 182, where it is also shown, that 
bishops are the sole judge of qualifications for orders, and can ordain 
at discretion and without reasons. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



165 



but wait upon his orders.* The bishop may confirm 
persons who are not presented by the clergyman of any 
parish, on account of their unvjorthiness ; so that a 
Puseyite bishop may fill the church with impenitent 
and unconverted men.f This he may do by virtue of 
another canon, which empowers the bishop to restore an 
individual, who has been debarred by any clergyman 
from the communion, at his own good pleasure, if ' he 
think fit to restore him, from the insufficiency of the cause 
assigned by the minister.' The fearful nature of this 
power, which has been exercised in this country,! Dr. 
Hawks is compelled to admit. He says,$ ' In the second 
section of this law, an addition is made which seems to 
intimate, that the laity are not lightly to be suspected, 
but, that a clergyman is likely so far to forget his obliga- 
tions, as solemnly to exclude one of Christ's children 
from Christ's table, on insufficient grounds. There is 
here a shorter process also pointed out, in which, without 
complaint, and without inquiry, the bishop, who, after all, 
in the investigation of a matter of fact, is no more than 
any other man and clergyman, with this disadvantage 
also, that he is placed at a distance from the scene of the 
transaction, is expected to pronounce ex-cathedra upon 
the case, more righteously and wisely than his brother- 
clergyman, who was on the spot, and bound by the most 
solemn of all considerations to judge righteous judgment. 
Suppose the bishop deems the causes assigned by the 
repelling clergyman insufficient, and reverses his act. 
What is the consequence? Not now to speak of its 
fastening upon the clergyman an enemy, who will feel 
that he may do much, because he has the bishop on his 
side, it violates the established rights of the parochial 

* Const, and Canons, by Dr. Hawks, pp. 208, 328. 
t Ibid, p. 256, Can. 26. 
t Ibid, p. 368. 

) Ibid, Can. 42. pp. 363, 364, 365, 368. 



166 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



clergy, and overturns a fixed principle in our ecclesiastical 
polity. Such, a restoration by the bishop, of a repelled 
communicant, is a virtual trial and condemnation of the 
clergyman who repelled him. It will be a sad day for the 
church,' adds Dr. Hawks, ' when the clergy, without the 
intervention of triers of their own order, may be tried and 
condemned by the bishop alone. The smallest approach 
to such an encroachment should be promptly resisted. 
It is of vast importance to the well-being of the church, 
to preserve their just rights to that large body of real 
operatives, the parochial clergy. Power always passes 
slowly and silently, and without much notice, from the 
hands of the many to the few ; and all history shows, 
that ecclesiastical domination grows up by little and 
little. Give to bishops the right, without a formal trial 
by their peers, virtually to condemn presbyters in one 
case ; and it will surely come to pass, that the day will 
be seen when precedent will be cited for it in all cases. 
Antiquity, not primitive and genuine antiquity, for that 
a wise man will respect, but manufactured within a few 
hundred years, will be lugged in, and held up as the only 
guide in ecclesiastical legislation, without remembering, 
that even pure antiquity must often yield to the altered 
state of society ; and then come canons to bolster up the 
pilfered power, the spurious antiquity, until the bold 
usurpation has fenced itself round with a wall, which 
even truth may long assault in vain. The overwhelming 
tyranny, from which the reformation freed the protestant 
church, grew up by this paulatim process.' Does not Dr. 
Hawks here designedly picture the present rapid growth 
of this prelatical power? 

The bishop may further prevent any congregation from 
settling the minister chosen for them, by their vestry.^ 
The bishop, therefore, is, in reality, the grand patron 

* Const, and Canons, p. 279, Can. 30, 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



167 



of all the churches in his diocese, which are thus in his 
gift * And, supposing the existing clergy, or a majority 
of them, in any diocese, to have become leavened with 
the high-church heresy, there is no possibility of any 
reformation, if the powers secured to the bishop are 
rigidly exercised, since no minister can preach in any 
other church than his own without leave, nor can any 
new church be built without similar license.! A man, 
too, when once made bishop, and when he has thus 
received the indelible, invisible mark of episcopal grace, 
is absolutely shut up to the necessity of continuing in 
office, however unworthy, or unfit, he may prove or find 
himself to be.t The bishop alone can displace ministers, 
and separate a useful, holy, and evangelical clergyman 
from a loving people, as has been done in many recent 
cases in England and Scotland.^ But, further, no de- 
graded minister, however penitent, can ever be restored ;|| 
so that, were this the only church in this country, an in- 
jured individual might be thus crushed and destroyed 
without appeal or remedy. 

A bishop can exercise his despotic power even over 
a minister connected with another diocese, who may be 
on a visit to his own. Such a minister, should he dare 
to preach, or otherwise attempt to do good, in any way 
which may be deemed by the bishop to be improper, or 
contrary to rule, ' the bishop may, upon probable caused 

* Constit. and Canons, p. 285. 
t Ibid, pp. 293-295. 

| Ibid, pp. 301, 303. ' So far,' says Dr. Hawks, ' as our research 
has extended, this law is without a precedent in the history of the 
christian church. We may be mistaken, but we believe that ours is 
the first church in Christendom, that ever legislated for the express 
purpose of preventing episcopal resignations; for this canon prescribes 
so many restrictions, that the obstacles render it almost impossible 
for a bishop to lay down his jurisdiction. The matter is one which 
the practice of the church has heretofore left to be settled between 
God and the conscience of the bishop ; and it may well be ques- 
tioned, whether it be not best, in all cases, there to leave it.' 

§ Ibid, p. 346, Can. 38. || Ibid, p. 350. 

IF Constit. and Canons, p. 355, Can. 40. 



168 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



admonish such a clergyman, and forbid him to officiate in 
the said diocese. And if, after such prohibition, the said 
clergyman so officiate, the bishop shall give notice to all 
the clergy and congregations in said diocese, that the 
officiating of the said clergyman is, under any, and all 
circumstances, prohibited ; and like notice shall be given 
to the bishop, or, if there be no bishop, to the standing 
committee of the diocese to which the clergyman be- 
longs. And such prohibition shall continue in force, until 
the bishop of the first-named diocese be satisfied of the inno- 
cence of the said clergyman, or until he be acquitted on 
trial.' And for what reason is all this tremendous power 
vested in the hands of a man, who may be a Puseyite 
heretic, and to whom all efforts to promote pure and un- 
deflled religion may be a criminal offence ? Let Doctor 
Hawks himself answer. ' We must clearly understand,' 
says he, ' what the offence is for which the visiting cler- 
gyman, who has broken a particular canon of another 
diocese, is tried ; he is not called to account so much for 
the ill consequences, which may result from the breaking 
of that canon, as he is for violating the great principle 
of a due respect for the lawful ecclesiastical authority of 
the region in which he is sojourning. Insubordination 
is his crime, rather than the violation of a particular 
measure, founded on a particular policy.' 

Further* the bishop of each diocese may compose 
forms of prayer, or thanksgiving, as the case may require, 
for extraordinary occasions, and transmit them to each 
clergyman within his diocese, whose duty it shall be, to 
use such forms in his church on such occasions. A 
bishop may thus, as was done not long since, prescribe 
to protestant clergymen a form of prayer for a sick 
Roman catholic bishop, to be offered up in the congrega- 
tions, and in which he is recognised as a true bishop of 



* Constit. and Canons, p. 386, Can. 3S7. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



169 



the true church, in express contradiction of the homilies,* 
and by which all the corruptions of popery are una- 
voidably encouraged, and implicitly approved. 

That these principles, which we have now developed, 
must necessarily lead to intolerance, and that they have 
already done so in this country, we have abundantly 
proved elsewhere.! And that the rights and privileges 
of ' the laity and inferior clergy,' will be more and more 
destroyed, in proportion as the number and influence of 
the bishops increase, we most fully believe. Already 
they are very bold. Witness the attack of bishop De 
Lancey, upon the popular and republican constitution of 
the board of missions of the episcopal church, which has 
hitherto been modelled upon the plan of our presbyterian 
board, by admitting all its members to an equal partici- 
pation in its management. The bishop says, ' another 
defect is, that it contains no provision by which the 
rights and feelings of the bishops in those dioceses, 
wherein the missionaries of the board labor, are secured 
against an extraneous influence and interference, on tha 
part of the secretaries of the board, in their correspond- 
ence with the missionaries. But a still more serious 
objection occurs to the present organization, arising out of 
the relation to it which the bishops of the church are 
compelled to hold. In the General Theological Semin- 
ary, the bishops may, at any time, demand in the board a 
vote by orders, in which case a concurrence is necessary; 
and are thus secured against being committed to any 
measure or opinion, by the force of the vote of a ma- 
jority. That institution,' he adds, 'which challenges 
the love and liberality of every member of the household 
of faith, that institution is modelled on the congregational 
(that is, presbyterian) platform of placing layman, deacon, 

* See Taylor's Ancient Christ, vol. ii. part viii. where this is fully 
shown. 

t Lect. on the Apost. Succ. Lect. xiii. p. 299, &c. 
15 



170 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



priest, and bishop, on the arena of debate ; where the 
most skilful, bold, zealous, and fluent, will predominate, 
and where the opinion of the presiding bishop of the 
church has no more practical weight, when questions are 
brought to a vote, than that of the youngest deacon or 
youngest layman, that may happen to be voted into either 
committee, to fill a vacancy within a week before the 
meeting of the board. The members of the house of 
bishops, as a body* are as little disposed as qualified, to 
carry on debates in a popular assembly, and yet, unless 
they will consent to the exposure and trials of such a 
scene, they must consent to lose the weight of their sen- 
timents in the board, or to seek peace by surrendering 
the conduct of the institution to whomsoever will under- 
take to lead it.' # 

Surely, if a straw will show which way the wind 
blows, there is enough in this public declaration to dis- 
cover the ultimate tendencies of prelacy in thi3 country, 
and its innate antipathy to republican rights. There is 
not one essential principle of republicanism which it does 
not oppose and controvert ; — the rights of the people, the 
equality of all members of the church, in their original 
character, the church as constituted by the whole people, 
to whom all power was originally given, the elective and 
representative rights of the people, the right of the ma- 
jority to govern and direct the interests of the community, 
the responsibility of all officers to the people, and the 
election of all ministers by them. — these, and all the 
other fundamental principles of republicanism, the consti- 
tution of the Protestant Episcopal Church in this country 
entirely overthrows. In no proper sense is it a govern- 
ment of the people, either as it regards parishes, dioceses, 
or the general convention. The laity are systematically 

* Address to the Convention in 1842, in Charl. Gospel Messenger, 
Nov. 1842. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 171 

crushed. The little power they now have, is regarded as 
anomalous * and is constantly diminishing.! 

The general government of this church is, therefore, 
altogether different from that of our republic. It is not a 
union of independent confederated States, it is a consoli- 
dated government. By the constitution of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church in this country, each several diocese 
surrendered, ' first, such an exercise of independency as 
would permit them to withdraw from the union at their 
own pleasure, and without the assent of the other 
dioceses ; secondly, they surrendered the right of having 
the bishop, whom they might elect, consecrated without 
the assent of the church at large.'l Now, while it is of 
course impossible to form any union, under any form of 
government, without surrendering many original and 
inherent rights, for the sake of other and greater privi- 
leges ; yet, it will be granted, that the perfection of any 
government, consists in securing to its members all such 
advantages, with the least possible sacrifice of their per- 
sonal rights, or restraint in their free exercise. Now, 
it is at once apparent, that the rights here said to be sur- 
rendered, are very essential to freedom and independence, 
and that their surrender places each member of the con- 
federation in a condition of necessary dependency upon all 
the rest. So much so, indeed, that, while bound to con- 

* See Lect. on the Apost. Succ. Lect. xiii. 

t Paley adduces, as one of his four arguments for the distinction of 
orders in the English church, that in them the church, [Works, vol. vi. 
pp. 95 and 96,] may be considered ' as stationing ministers of religion 
in the various ranks of civil life. The distinctions of the clergy 
ought, in some measure, to correspond with the distinctions of lay- 
society, in order to supply each class of the people with a clergy of 
their own level and description, with whom they may live and asso- 
ciate upon terms of equality. This reason is not imaginary nor 
insignificant.' 

% Dr. Hawks in Constit. of Prot. Epis. Ch. And yet, so badly 
has bishop McCoskry learned the nature of that sect to which he has 
given in his blind adherence, that he actually brings forward ' the 
independence of the several dioceses' as ' analogous to the independ- 
ence of the several States.' See Durfield on Episcop. p. 52, Appendix. 



172 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



tinue with them, it cannot, without them, by its own 
choice, perpetuate its own institutions. The perfect lib- 
erty enjoyed by every synod or presbytery, to withdraw 
from union with the church upon sufficient grounds, and 
the entire sufficiency of every such body to perpetuate 
itself, to admit, ordain, and govern its own ministers ; 
and that without any external interference from any other 
portion of the church, or any subserviency whatever, 
must therefore be allowed to speak forth the praise of 
our free and happy presbyterian constitution. 

These facts, in the constitution of the protestant epis- 
copal church in this country, drawn from unquestionable 
sources, we submit, with but little remark, to our readers. 
They will, doubtless, be as astounding to many, as they 
were, when first discovered, to ourselves. We had con- 
fidently believed, that this church had imbibed much of 
the free spirit of our presbyterian system. And by its 
own loud and continual boasting, we had been assured 
that it was the very perfection of ecclesiastical republi- 
canism. The truth, therefore, should be made known. 
It will be as mournful to a large portion of that church as 
it is to ourselves, and may serve to increase that timely 
watchfulness and jealousy of prelatical encroachments, 
which will secure the endangered rights of her clerical 
and lay members. 



SECTION III. 

The anti -republicanism of high-churchism. 

The monarchical and anti-republican character of high- 
churchism, whether in England or America, needs not a 
great amount of proof. The Anglican church, ' con- 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



173 



tinued to be,' says Macauley,* ' for more than a hundred 
and fifty years, the servile handmaid of monarchy, the 
steady enemy of public liberty. The divine right of 
kings, and the duty of passively obeying all their com- 
mands, were her favorite tenets. She held them firmly 
through times of oppression, persecution, and licentious- 
ness ; while law was trampled down, while judgment 
was perverted, while the people were eaten as though 
they were bread. Once, and but once — for a moment, 
and but for a moment, when her own dignity and property 
were touched, she forgot to practice the submission 
which she had taught.' 

Again, he says,f ' The royal prerogative had been 
magnified to the skies in theological works ; the doctrine 
of passive obedience had been preached from innumer- 
able pulpits. The university of Oxford had sentenced 
the works of the most moderate constitutionalists to the 
flames. The accession of a catholic king, the frightful 
cruelties committed in the west of England, never shook 
the steady loyalty of the clergy. But did they serve the 
king for nought ? ' 

This general character of the hierarchy, the whole 
history of the Anglican prelacy abundantly confirms. 
The English reformers regarded no form of church gov- 
ernment as of divine institution. They chose prelacy, 
because it was best adapted to a monarchy. In strict 
conformity to the English parliament, as constituted of 
lords and commons, the church possessed her two estates 
in the upper and lower houses of her convocation ; the 
laity, however, being carefully excluded.t And as, by 
its nature, a monarchy requires a supreme head, each pre- 
late was recognised as the one supreme governor in his 
diocese ; and the king as head over all, to whom unquali- 

* Miscellanies, vol. i. p. 249. 
t Tbid, p. 312. 

t Dr. Nolan's Cath. Char, of Christ, pp. 156, 161, 167. 
15* 



174 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



tied submission, from all the members of the church, was 
required. All spiritual authority, on the part of the 
church, was, therefore, abjured. * Every canon, how- 
ever, passed by the church, was absolutely null, till sanc- 
tioned by the throne. t And the very highest power pos- 
sessed by the church, of denouncing under the greater 
excommunication, was, and is, rendered absolutely void, 
by a general act of pardon delivered from the throne, 
without even the formality of an absolution. 

And why was it that these principles were allowed to 
remain in the reformed church of England ? No truer 
reason can be given, than that presented by its advocate, 
the Rev. F. W. Faber, in his tract on the reformation.! 
' Yet how,' he asks, * was the reformation brought about? 
Entirely by the clergy. The people never were consulted 
in the matter. No 'popular assembly was held. Nothing 
was put to vote. Their consent was never asked. In all 
probability it would not have been given ; for the great 
bulk of the people were too ignorant to understand it, 
and naturally disinclined to change their opinions. So 
also, in the catechism, the church teaches her children to 
obey their spiritual pastors, a?id masters.^' 

The act of uniformity, of Elizabeth, was the founda- 
tion of the resuscitated Anglican church. Now, by this 
act, the church was made the tool and agent of arbitrary 
power II It entirely subverted all freedom, civil and 
religious. All toleration was denied, and conformity 

* Dr. Nolan's Cath. Char, of Christ, pp. 160, 161. 
t Ibid, p. 163. 

t No. 151 of Prot. Ep. Tr. Soc. p. 5. 

§ ' Thus we see, adds he, what judgment the reformation would have 
passed upon congregations censuring the teachings of their pastors from 
their own private opinions. Still more do we see what it would think cf 
those rude and indecent criticisms, passed by persons wholly unquali- 
fied to judge, upon the prayer book, its creeds, and its articles, the 
length of its services, and the language of its doctrinal statements.' 

|| Hence have bishops been of old denominated ' the prince's led- 
horse.' Life of Melville, ii. 215. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



175 



enforced by persecution, and the most dreadful atroci- 
ties* 

In the reign of James I, from the period of his apos- 
tacy from Calvinism, ' Arminianism,' says Dr. Price,! ' was 
the badge of a party which advocated the most servile 
doctrines, both in politics and religion ; and had arrayed 
against it all the patriotism, and much of the learning 
and piety, of the nation. The house of commons com- 
plained of its increase as a public grievance, and coupled 
it in their remonstrances with popery, as an evil scarcely 
less to be dreaded. Their aversion to it was fostered 
by the alliance with civil despotism, into which its pro- 
fessors entered, and they were with difficulty restrained 
from adopting measures for its suppression. Judging 
from a partial view of the facts of their own day, they 
regarded the system of Arminius as incompatible with 
political freedom ; for which it is remarked by Mr. Hal- 
lam, ' they had a sort of excuse in the close, though acci- 
dental and temporary connection, that subsisted between 
the partisans of these new speculative tenets and those 
of arbitrary power ; the churchmen, who receded most 
from Calvinism, being generally the zealots of preroga- 
tive. They conceived, also, that those theories, conforma- 
ble, in the main, to those most countenanced in the church 
of Rome, might pave the way for that restoration of her 
faith, which, from so man)'' other quarters, appeared to 
threaten them.' 

The clergy who embraced these tenets, lent them- 
selves to the support of the king's prerogative, with a 
zeal which entitled them to his patronage. $ So early as 
1606, the convocation drew up a set of canons, deducing 

* Brooke's Hist, of Rel. Lib. vol. i. pp. 281, 292, 283 - 286. 
t Price's Hist, of Nonconf. vol. i. p. 542. 

t Price, ibid, p. 547. This was the true reason of James's preference 
for prelacy. See Dr. McCrie's Life of Melville, vol. i. pp. 156, 264, 
271,304. 



176 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



the origin of government from the patriarchial regimen 
of families, and denouncing the more popular and liberal 
views, which were becoming prevalent. Passive obedi- 
ence to the reigning monarch is inculcated throughout 
these canons, and anathemas are liberally pronounced on 
all who refuse it. The same doctrines were maintained 
by the higher clergy, during the whole of this reign ; 
towards the close of which, the university of Oxford 
pronounced a solemn decree, 1 that, by the doctrine of the 
Holy Scriptures, it is in no case lawful for subjects to 
make use of force against their prince, nor to appear offen- 
sively or defensively in the field against the king, either 
upon the score of religion, or any other account what- 
ever.' All doctors, masters, and bachelors of law, and 
physic, were to subscribe this article ; and all persons to 
be promoted in future to any degree, were further 
required to take an oath, that they not only at present 
detested the opposite doctrines, but would always con- 
tinue to be of the same opinion. # 

To what did prelacy lead in Scotland? To what, says 
McCrie,f it had already led in England, the establishment 
of the English inquisition, the court of high commission. 
This arbitrary and despotical court, whose proceedings were 
regulated by no fixed laws, or forms of justice, had the pow- 
er of receiving appeals from any ecclesiastical judicatory, 
of calling before it all persons accused of error, or immo- 
rality, and all preachers and teachers, in schools or 
colleges, charged with speeches which were impertinent, 

* Bishop White remarks, that 'in England, Arminianism was con- 
ceived of as allied to absolute monarchy, and Calvinism to popular 
privilege.' [Mem. of Prot. Ep. Ch. p. 55.] See also Dr. Price's Hist, 
of Non Conf. vol. ii. pp. 9, 29, 241, and, as to Arminianism, pp. 31, 
36, 37. See the spirit and conduct of the bishops at the Hampton 
Court Conference, which were at the same time slavish and blas- 
phemous. McCrie's Life of Melville, vol. ii. pp. 19S, 218, 219. This 
is also affirmed by Dr. Wm. Cook Taylor, in his Biog. of the age of 
Eliz. vol. ii.p. 56, where he affirms that James had reason for his apho- 
rism, ' no bishop, no king.' 

t Life of Melville, ii. 3S6. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



177 



contrary to the established order of the church, or favor- 
able to those who had been confined or banished for 
contemptuous offences ; and, on finding them guilty, it had 
power to depose and excommunicate, fine and imprison 
them. The presence of an archbishop was necessary to 
the validity of all its meetings, and it was easy for him 
to summon such associates as were devoted to his will ; 
so that it was, to all intents and purposes, an episcopal 
court. As it exalted the bishops far above any prelate 
that ever was in Scotland, so it put the king in posses- 
sion of that which long time he had desired, and hunted 
for, to wit, the royal prerogative, and absolute power to 
use the bodies and goods of his subjects at his pleasure, 
without form or process of the common law ; so that our 
bishops were fit instruments of the overthrow of the free- 
dom and liberty both of the church and realm of Scot- 
land. Bishops became thus lords of parliament, privy-coun- 
cil, session, exchequer, and regality, patrons of benefices, 
and modifiers of stipends, constant moderators and visit- 
ers of presbyteries, and royal high commissioners ! 

By what means was prelacy introduced into Scotland ? 
By the very same through which it was maintained in 
England, and which have been already described * The 
way in which it was introduced, says Dr. McCrie,f ex- 
hibited a complete contrast to the introduction of the 
ecclesiastical polity, which it supplanted. Presbytery 
made its way by the weapons of argument and persua- 
sion, without the aid of civil power, which viewed its 
progress with a jealous eye, and attempted on more than 
one occasion to crush it. Its patrons avowed all that they 
intended, and never had recourse to falsehood or fraud, 
to accomplish their favorite object. And it had been 
rooted in the opinions and affections of the nation, long 
before it obtained a legal establishment. Episcopacy, 

* Macauley's Miscell. vol. i. p. 312. 
t Life of Melville, ii. 391-394. 



178 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



on the contrary, was the creature of the state. It had 
the whole weight of the authority and influence of the 
crown, all along, on its side ; and even with this, it could 
not have prevailed, or maintained its ground, without the 
aid of those arts to which government has recourse for 
carrying its worst and most unpopular measures. 

' Deceit and perfidy, and bribery, were joined to fines 
and imprisonments, and banishments, and the terrors of 
the gibbet. Dissimulation was the grand engine by 
which the presbyterian constitution was overthrown. 
"While the court disgraced itself by a series of low and 
over-reaching tricks, the aspiring clergy plunged them- 
selves into the deepest and most profligate perjury. 
They refused no pledge which the jealousy of the church 
courts, awakened by the measures of government, re- 
quired of them. When engaged in a scheme for over- 
throwing the established discipline, they renewed the 
assurances of their inviolable attachment and adherence 
to it. With the most solemn asseverations and execra- 
tions, they disclaimed all intention of bringing prelacy 
into the church, and swore to observe 'the caveats,' 
enacted to guard against its admission. Every change 
which was made was declared to be the only one intend- 
ed; but, no sooner had the alarm excited by it been 
allayed, than it was followed by another, until, at last, the 
whole system of the hierarchy was introduced and estab- 
lished, by the exertions of those who had so frequently 
disowned and abjured it. It is impossible to find expres- 
sions sufficiently strong, in reprobating a scene of delibe- 
rate, systematic, and persevering prevarication, and 
perfidy, to which it will not be easy to find a parallel in 
the whole history of political intrigue, and which, as 
practiced by church-men, must have had the most perni- 
cious influence on religion, by debasing the character of 
its ministers, especially in the estimation of the higher 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 179 

ranks, whom they now vied with in honors, and sought 
to supplant in the highest offices of the state.' 

Prelacy and monarchy, are, in short, collateral terms. 
They stand to each other in the relation of cause and 
effect, of invariable antecedent and consequent. The 
same principles which led to the extension of the bish- 
op's power over all the pastors of a diocese, led to the 
establishment of an archbishop, metropolitan, patriarch, 
and pope, which is a regular monarchical scale. The 
spirit of the system is equally despotic. It makes pre- 
lates the depositaries of all grace, the necessary media- 
tors between God and man, the keepers of the human 
conscience, the only channels of grace, who are clothed 
with all the prerogatives of heaven. It leads, therefore, 
to a state of mental servitude, and crouching supersti- 
tion. It embodies, in fact, the fundamental principles of 
popery.* And if any man is disposed to regard the con- 
nections between popery and despotism, and between 
prelacy and monarchy, and between presbytery and 
republicanism, as incidental, we must appeal to their 
analogous principles, and to their invariable tendencies.! 

Hear the description given of prelacy by bishop Hicks, 
as quoted by the Oxford Tractators.$ ' Can you, sir, 
when you consider that bishops are appointed to succeed 
the apostles, and, like them, to stand in Christ's place, 
and exercise their kingly, priestly, and prophetical office 

* See Lect. on Apos. Succ. Lect. xi. xii. 

fThis connection, as founded upon certain analogous principles, will 
be found urged by Woodgate, in his Bampton Lectures for 1639, p. 20. 
See also 349, 350, 351. He contends, that the connection ' is not mere- 
ly one of analogy, but also of principle,' and on p. 351, 352, he shows 
the several points of correspondence between democracy and dissent. 
Huber says, ' the monarchical principle . . . involves the conditions 
of a natural confederacy with those principles, interests, customs, 
and peculiarities, which in later times were distinguished as high-churchy 
and a natural idiosyncrasy against the opposite religious develop- 
ment.' Die Englischen Universitaten-, &c> in Hoffman's Anglo Prus- 
sian Bishopric, pp. 27, 28. 

% Vol. iii.pp. 155, 156. 



180 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



over their flocks ; can you, when you consider this, think 
it novel, or improper, or uncouth, to call them spiritual 
princes, and their dioceses principalities, when they 
have every thing in their office which can denominate a 
prince ? For what is a prince bat the chief ruler of a 
society, that hath authority over the rest to make laws for 
it, to challenge the obedience of all the members, and all 
ranks of men in it, and power to coerce them, if they 
will not obey. And now, sir, I pray you to attend to 
what follows, and then tell me, if the office of a bishop 
contains not every thing that is in the definition of a 
chief or a prince.' 

Collier also uses the terms 1 monarchically governed/ 
as equivalent to ' episcopal administration.'* 

Hence do we find South, while calling on the civil 
magistrates to extirpate heresy,! and lauding to the skies, 
the arbitrary and despotic tyranny of Charles, urging, as a 
claim for the prelatic government in the church, that it 
was 'the only one that can consist with the present 
government of the state.'-t 

But, to crown all, and to consummate our argument, 
1 they are atheists/ says Dr. Nichols, of prelatical memo- 
ry, ' who affirm that government originates in the peo- 
ple, that this notion is borrowed from the most pestilent 
atheists, and can be defended on no other than atheisti- 
cal principles.'^ 

* Eccl. Hist. B. i. cent. iv. vol. i. p. 26. 
t Sermon 3. vol. i. pp. Ill, 112, ed. 1737. 
% Sermon 2, Epistle Ded.p. 76. 

§ See in Robinson's Claude's Essay, vol. ii. p. 42. Other testimonies 
may be seen in Burnet's Vindic. p. 179. Jameson's Cyp. Isot. p. 558. 
Lord Digby. Lond. Quart. Rev. Dec. 1839, p. 74. Lond. Chr. Obs. 
1S38, p. 39. Spiritual Despotism, pp. 176, 177, 184, 199, 200, 202, 205. 
20S, Eng. ed. How this argument entered into all the petitions, argu- 
ments, and remonstrances of the prelatical party during the reign of 
Charles, may be seen in Southey's Book of the Church, ch. xvii. pp. 
465, 466, Lond. 4th ed. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



181 



SECTION IV. 

The anti-republican character of Popery. 

Popery is despotism in religion, effected by the suppres- 
sion of our charter, the holy scriptures, the prostration 
of private judgment, liberty of conscience, and conse- 
quently of all appeal from her unrighteous decisions* 
The connection, therefore, between popery and despotic or 
arbitrary government, is not one of accident ox analogy, but 
one of principle and necessity. They not merely resemble 
each other, they are identical. The principle of both is 
the despotic and servile principle, in the former actuating 
their rulers, and in the latter those over whom they rule. 
Master and slave characterize the relation between both 
parties. 

The papacy is that usurpation, by which the primitive 
and apostolic doctrine and polity of the church have been 
overturned ; so that the pope, who may be an infidel, an 
atheist, and a reprobate, sitteth in the temple of God, that 
is, the church, as God, and assumes to himself the attri- 
butes and prerogatives of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is its 
only Head. This despotic usurpation, as we have seen, 
was established in the seventh century, when the author- 
ity of the Roman See became predominant in the west, 
and was consummated in the eleventh century, when that 
authority became unlimited. Since that time, it has been 
a mark of orthodoxy, among Romanists, to define the 
church a monarchy. 

Bellarmine, in his lectures ' De Romano Pontifice,' de- 
livered in the college of Rome by appointment of pope 
Gregory XIII, ' after endeavoring,' says Cramp,f ' to prove 
that simple monarchy is the best form of government, and 

* Woodgate's Bampton Lect. pp. 350, 351. 
t Text Book, &c.p. 310. 

16 



182 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



that therefore it has been adopted in the church, in which 
the pope, as the successor of Peter, rules in the place of 
Christ, who has constituted him his sole vicar or represen- 
tative, describes at large the spiritual and temporal power 
of the pope.'^ 

That church government ought to be monarchical, Bel- 
larmine further urges, for the following reason,! ' that, 
among all the forms of government, simple monarchy, bat- 
ing some circumstances, is absolutely the best. That how- 
ever, a monarchy, mixed with aristocracy and democracy, 
is more useful in this life, than simple monarchy; and that 
this form of government has prevailed in the church, where- 
in is the monarchy of the pope, the aristocracy of the bish- 
ops, and the democracy of inferior clergy.' Of the peo- 
ple, we see, he takes no account. They are only subjects, 
whose province it is to obey. 

Cassienus makes it essential to the church to be under 
one supreme head, nor does he, in his definition, refer to 
any other governors as necessary.;t Prelates, therefore, ac- 
cording to Romanists, are not only in a higher degree of 
superiority to other ministers, but they are as princes of 
the clergy, while other ministers are subjects, and in all 
things to be commanded by them.§ 

In 1828, M. Schlegel,ll who has stood foremost among 
the literary men of Roman Catholic Europe, in his Lec- 
tures on the Philosophy of History, has labored to demon- 
strate the mutual support which popery and monarchy 
lend to, and receive from, each other. Church and state* 
he insists, must always be united ; and it is essential to 
the existence of each, that a pope be at the head of the 

* See also Dr. Thorpe, in Notes of the Ch. Exam. p. 134. 

t Lib. de Pontif. Rom. B. i. ch. ix. in Limborch, vol. ii. p. 908, and 
ibid, B. iii. and iv. 

% Syn. Pap. p. 269, from Bellarm. lib. i.jle cleric, c. xiii- xiv. Vide- 
mus Episcopum, proinde verum principem. c. xiv. 

§ Notes of the Ch. Exam. p. 187. 

|| Dr. Brownlee's Popery an Enemy to Liberty, p. 21. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



183 



one, and an emperor, absolute of course, at the head of the 
other. He takes occasion to show, that protestantism is ab- 
solutely the enemy of all good government ; and that it is, 
in fact, the ally of republicanism, the source of all distract- 
ed Europe's disorders, wars, and distresses. In short, that 
it is the cause of all the calamities with which the legiti- 
mate governments of the old world are now being visited. 
This cunning politician thus breaks out against our repub- 
lic : ' The real nursery of all these destructive principles, 
the revolutionary school for France, and the rest of Eu- 
rope, has been North America. From that land has the 
evil spread over many other lands, either by natural con- 
tagion, or by arbitrary communication.'* 

We do not indulge, therefore, either in conjecture, or in 
the exercise o£ private judgment, when we say, that pope- 
ry is monarchical and anti-republican. We draw up- 
on their own testimony, and appeal to all history. We 
do this in the knowledge of the fact, that some two or three 
dwarfed republics, or rather aristocracies, have existed in 
Romish countries. They did so, however, in spite of its 
influence. They lived by opposition, and the hard main- 
tenance of their envied rights ; and while republican in 
name, they were in reality despotic, and without a shadow 
of popular freedom, or genuine liberty. We do this, too, 
while perfectly aware that Alexis De Tocqueville has 
been procured, in utter contrariety to his own principles, 
to claim for popery the greatest affinity to democracy, that 
is, as he uses the word, to republicanism. He says,f ' I 
think that the catholic religion has been erroneously look- 
ed upon, as the natural enemy of democracy. Among the 
various sects of christians, Catholicism seems to me, on 
the contrary, to be one of those which are most favorable 
to the equality of conditions. In the catholic church, the 

* Vol. ii. Lect. xvii. p. 286. 

t Democr. in Am. vol. i.pp. 328, 329. 



184 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



religions community is composed of only two elements ; 
the priest and the people. The priest alone rises above 
the rank of his flock, and all below him are equal. On 
doctrinal points, the catholic faith places all human capa- 
cities upon the same level ; it subjects the wise and the 
ignorant, the man of genius and the vulgar crowd, to the 
details of the same creed.' 

Now in these remarks, Tocqueville evidently uses the 
term democracy in the sense of equality merely, without 
respect to liberty, and as entirely distinct from it. This is 
clear, from what he says elsewhere. ' Very great equali- 
ty may be united to institutions more or less free, or even 

to institutions wholly without freedom The taste which 

men have for liberty, and that which they feel for equali- 
ty, are, in fact, two different things.'* Equality, then, is 
no certain mark of freedom, but may be the badge of sla- 
very. Despotism may produce political equality, but who 
will say that it can lead to political liberty. "We must, 
therefore, carefully distinguish between equality and free- 
dom. All slaves are equal, but no slaves are free. Free- 
dom is enjoyed only in that community, where the people 
have an equal right, according to their capacity, to take 
part in its government.! Equality is found in despotic 
monarchies, where the monarch is the law, and all beside 
are equally subject to his will. Now popery, as our au- 
thor allows, is ecclesiastical despotism — ' an absolute mo- 
narchy.' It therefore subjugates all its members to a com- 
mon level of servile equality, while it equally deprives 
them all of their ecclesiastical rights, and of all religious 
freedom. In Romanism there is, we grant, perfect equal- 
ity, but there is no freedom. In these respects, all its 
members are equal ; they all obey the same laws ; they 
all bow down to the same yoke ; they all crouch under the 

* Dem. in Am. vol. ii. p. 100. 
t Ibid, vol. ii. p. 99. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



185 



lash of the same priestly tyranny ; they all prostrate their 
understandings to the same debasing authority ; they all 
submit to the same ignominious penances ; they are all 
alike weak and impotent, in relation to the imperial poten- 
tate ; and their condition is alike, in contrast with that of 
their absolute master. This despotism might be compar- 
ed to the authority of a parent, were it designed to pre- 
pare its subjects for manhood; but it is, on the contrary, 
only adapted to keep them in perpetual childhood, to spare 
them all the care of thinking, and all the trouble of living, 
and gradually to rob man of all use of himself. To em- 
ploy the powerful language of our author,* ' after having 
thus successively taken each member of the community 
in its powerful grasp, and fashioned them at will, the su- 
preme power then extends itself over the whole commu- 
nity. It covers the surface of society with a net-work of 
small complicated rules, minute and uniform, through 
which the most original minds, and the most energetic 
characters cannot penetrate, to rise above the crowd. 
The will of man is not shattered, but softened, bent, and 
guided ; men are seldom forced by it to act, but they are 
constantly restrained from acting ; such a power does not 
destroy, but it prevents existence ; it does not tyrannize, 
but it compresses, enervates, extinguishes, and stupefies a 
people, till each nation is reduced to be nothing better than 
a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the gov- 
ernment is the shepherd.' 

But who would not rather incline toward the common 
empire of the people, than submit to the dominion of a sin- 
gle arm ? And is it not better, as Alexis De Tocqueville, 
when speaking his free sentiments, teaches, 1 to be level- 
led by free institutions than by despotic power?'! Who 
would not, therefore, prefer presbytery to popery ; spirit- 



* Vol. ii. p. 339. 

16* 



t Vol. i. p. 359. 



186 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



rial republicanism, to spiritual absolutism ; tlie sovereignty 
of all, to the absolute power of one ? 

Popery is subversive of every principle of republican- 
ism, and irreconcilable with freedom. The theory of 
those who advocate the divine right of kings, and the duty 
of passive obedience in all subjects, is embraced in these 
two propositions, that all government is absolute monar- 
chy, and that no man is born free ; # — and are not these, 
as we have seen, the cardinal principles of popery? 

Romanism is founded in implicit faith. Now the father 
of republicanism, Algernon Sydney, will instruct all who 
have ears to hear, that ' implicit faith belongs to fools,' 
and overthrows reason.! 

Romanism requires dependence upon the will and au- 
thority of man ; — but this, as the same expounder of re- 
publicanism teaches, is slavery.! For what is freedom ? 
' It is,' says Locke, $ ' a liberty to dispose, and order, as he 
lists, his person, actions, possessions, and his whole prop- 
erty, within the allowance of those laws under which he 
is, and therein not to be subject to the arbitrary will of 
another, but freely follow his own.' Such liberty, how- 
ever, popery destroys. 

Popery limits the power which inheres in the whole 
body of the faithful, to the pope, and through his gift, 
to the priesthood ; and this is usurpation.il It exer- 
cises that power beyond all right or law ; and this is ty- 
ranny.lf By altering the laws of Christ ; by assuming the 
power of legislation for his church ; by setting up the ar- 
bitrary will of the pope in the place of the laws instituted 
by Christ ; by hindering the church, that is, the body of 
the faithful, from assembling and acting freely for the com- 

* Locke on Gov. ch. i. sect. 2. Wks. 4to. vol. ii. p. 140. Lond. 1777- 
t Disc, concerning Govt, ch i. sect. 3. 
J Ibid, ch. i. sect. 5. 

§ Locke on Govt. ch. vi. sect. 57, vol. ii. p. 239. 
|| Ibid, ch. xviii. p. 294. 
1" Ibid. 



\ 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



187 



inon good; and by delivering over the free-born subjects 
of Christ to a foreign power ; popery stands chargeable 
with having dissolved the government of Christ's church, 
and setting up one of its own devising * Rather, per- 
haps, may it be said to form no government at all, but a 
pure despotism ; since absolute monarchy is inconsistent 
with every end of human societies, which is the common 
good of the whole body, and its protection against the un- 
just power of any.t 

Popery crushes the laity, and despoils them of every 
right. The Romish church is the body of the prelates and 
priests ; the laity have only to pay and obey, in all the pas- 
sivity of unquestioning submission. ' All Roman Catholics 
hold, as a doctrine,' says bishop Hughes, 'that the church, 
(that is, the clergy, to the exclusion of the laity,) inasmuch 
as it is a visible society .... has authority to make laws and 
require obedience to them; (from all men, the world over;) 
that it has authority to judge in controversies; condemn 
new doctrines, cast out heretics,' &c.$ ' With us,' adds 
this bishop, § ' doctrines are not made up, as with presby- 
terians, from the gatherings of the opinions of the people. 
They are tenets of revelation ; they are held and taught 
as such, and the votes of the people cannot make them 
true or false. They were revealed to be taught and be- 
lieved, and not to be ' coughed doivn? in such assemblies as 
the late synod of York.' This is the genuine language 
of proud aristocracy, which regards ' the people' with con- 
tempt, as the ignobile vulgus. 

In this sense, the same champion of despotism admits, 
' the Romish church is intolerant as truth.' Now, since the 
pope and clergy define, interpret, and therefore make the 
truth, without help or hope on the part of the laity, the 

* Locke on Govt. ch. xix. pp. 299, 300. 
t Ibid, sect. 90, pp. 252, 254. 

| Bp. Hughes in Discuss, with Dr. Breckinridge, p. 152. 
4 Ibid, p. 394. 



188 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



Romish church, is as intolerant as the Inst of power and 
domination, unlimited and unchecked, can possibly make 
her.* The people are the mere vassals of their priestly 
rulers. They have no part nor lot in the divine common- 
wealth. They have no voice in the councils of the church. 
They have no liberty of choice in the ministers by whom 
they are to be governed. They have no management 
even of the funds and property they have themselves con- 
tributed to the church. They are now prohibited from act- 
ing as trustees of the churches they have erected.! All re- 
sponsibility to the people for the use made of the funds 
contributed by them, or the amount received, is denied by 
popery. The people account to their priests in all cases, 
the priests to their people in no case. The priests are 
every thing, the people are nothing. A most singular 
species of democracy, truly ! A glorious equality this, 
most worthy of the inhabitants of this free republic ! 
Popery is the antipodes of democracy. $ 

Popery denies and anathematizes liberty of conscience, 
liberty of opinion, liberty of the press, liberty of discussion, 
and liberty of association ; and yet, upon these, the whole 
fabric of civil and religious liberty rests. When the foun- 
dations are destroyed, can the superstructure remain ? J 

Bishop Hughes, in Discuss, with Dr. Breckinridge, p. 155." 
t The London Tablet, a Roman Catholic newspaper, is delighted 
with the pastoral letter of bishop Hughes of New York on this sub- 
ject. The Tablet, speaking of bishop Hughes's attack upon the trustee 
system, says : ' We heartily wish this indefatigable prelate all success 
in these endeavors of his ; and, indeed, it seems likely to attend him. 
The sensation caused by the atrocious Gibraltar case, in addition to 
that of New Orleans, is producing precious effects in stirring up a fixed 
resolution to get rid of that modern slavery of the Church, called ' lay-trus- 
teeship.'' ' 

% Foreign Conspiracy against the United States, pp. 90, 91, 107. 

\ See abundant evidence of these positions, in Dr. Brownlee's Pope- 
ry the Enemy of Civil Liberty ; Foreign Conspiracy against the Uni- 
ted States ; Breckinridge and Hughes's Discussion, and Our Liberties 
Defended, New York, 1841. In 1836, John, bishop of New York, pub- 
licly condemned a debating society formed among young men of the 
Romish church in that city. In this, he says, ' The church, in the 
most positive manner, prohibits all laymen from entering into dispute 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



189 



The pope is thus absolute and supreme monarch in this 
land of republicanism, as far as Romanists are concerned. 
The pope claims by divine right, ' the primacy of jurisdic- 
tion, and the plenitude of power,' by which it appertains 
to him ' to assign pastors to all vacant churches.'* Thus f 
' in proud defiance of this free spirit, that stirs in the bosom 
of every republican and every christian, a foreign despot, 
residing at Rome, claims, and is actually permitted, by 
every Roman Catholic in our country, to exercise the pre- 

on points of religion with sectarians. ' Inhibemus, 1 says pope Alexan- 
der IV, ' ne sin quam Laicce Personce liceat publice vel privatim de fide. Ca- 
thohca disputare, qui vere contrafecerit excommunicationis laqreo innodetur. 1 
Had you recollected this sentence, I am sure you would be very far 
from calling on the catholic young men of this city to become mem- 
bers of a debating society on religious subjects, open to so many seri- 
ous objections.' John, bishop of New York, in addressing the editor 
of the Truth Teller, further says, ' I feel surprised that you. who 
ought to know better, would think of encouraging and drawing public 
attention to such a society, without first asking the sentiments of your 
Ordinary on so important a subject.' The bishop quotes pope Alex- 
ander IV, to sustain his decree of suppression. The old laws of pope- 
ry, then, are all allowed to be in force now, and in this country too. 
Hear the pope: ' We prohibit all lay persons, publicly or privately to 
dispute concerning the catholic faith : he who shall transgress, let him 
be hung up (innodetur) in the halter (laqueo) of excommunication.' 
This then is the law which governs the Roman Catholics in America. 
Pope Gregory XVI, in his encyclical letter, Sept. 1832, says, ' and from 
this most polluted fountain of indifferentism flows that absurd and er- 
roneous sentiment, or rather raving, that liberty of conscience is to be 
asserted and claimed by any one.' 

Now the Romanist, who undertook to defend the above bishop's con- 
duct, (see Our Liberties Defended, p. 55,) says, ' He concurred with him, 
pope Gregory XVI, in the views he has expressed.' ' I agree,' says he, 
' with him. (the pope,) in considering that the so-called liberty of con- 
science cannot sufficiently be execrated.' He further says, 'The lib- 
erty or rather licentiousness of the press, which the pontiff reprobates, 
is somewhat analogous to that which the laws of this very state re- 
strain, when they forbid the publication of obscene or demoralizing 
works.' Indeed ; it is admitted, then, that the pope may usurp the civil 
power, and impose civil restraints, in other countries than his own, to 
destroy the liberty of the press. I did not expect this concession from 
catholics ; and so he acknowledges that the pope does interfere, and 
contends that he has a right to interfere, in other states than his own, 
and control the press, and usurp the civil power, and condemn works 
for their character, just as the legislature of this state passes laws for 
the same purpose.' 

# See his words in Foreign Conspiracy, p. 36, 

t Brownlee, as above, p. 89. 



190 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



rogative of selecting and sending hither his own creatures, 
as bishops, priests, vicars, to take care of the souls of 

republicans' 

We find ; also, that in the education of young men for 
the priesthood, and in all their seminaries, both male and 
female, there is instilled into the mind an implicit obe- 
dience and reverence for ecclesiastical superiors, as a 
conscientious duty, enjoined by divine authority. What- 
ever mandates issue from the Vatican at Rome are always 
faithfully executed, as the commands of duty itself. 
Whatever these may be, they are taught to believe, that 
it would be sinful to question the obligation to perform 
them. By these means, the priests become willing and 
prompt agents, to carry into effect any plans, without 
themselves knowing the object of them.* 

This slavish subjection to the interests of Rome, is 
secured by the establishment of celibacy. By forbidding 
the clergy to marry, they are cut off from all those family 

ties, WHICH ARE THE FOUNTAINS OF PATRIOTISM, AND THE 

very bond and cement of society. Having no interests 
at stake, they look upon the community in which they 
sojourn, as their prey, not as their home ; and upon obe- 
dience to their spiritual governors, as the highest of duties. 
As soldiers of the pope, they are ever ready to obey his 
summons, and to execute his commands. Thus the 
priests, monks, and nuns, compose, in fact, the army of a 
foreign potentate, to fulfil his high behests, as a religious 
duty, and to look up to him for promotion, in dignity or 
office ; for in the court of Rome, the pope, being the 
supreme head of the church, is the sole fountain of honor, 
as well as of authority.! 

But still further to extend this foreign influence, we 
find that probably two thirds, at least, of the priests in this 

* See proofs in Foreign Conspiracy, pp. 37 -39. 
t See proofs of this in several examples in Foreign Conspiracy, p. 
140, &c. Note c. * *** 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



191 



country, are foreigners : Italians, Spaniards, Belgians, but 
a major part from Ireland ; who have no natural ties to 
this country, and have no sentiments or feelings in com- 
mon with the American citizen. They are ordered to 
take charge of a congregation, without consulting the 
members of it ; but are set over them by the authority of 
the pope. They are commissioned to be their spiritual 
guides ; to hear confessions ; to grant absolution, and 
impose penances ; and to administer the last sacrament, 
which is considered so essential to the consolation of the 
dying penitent in the Romish faith. Now with all this 
mighty influence over the minds of American citizens, 
these men are, many of them, in heart, opposed to our 
free institutions. My lord bishop Flaget, # of Bardstown, 
Kentucky, in a letter to his patrons abroad, has this plain 
hint at an ulterior political design, and that no less than the 
entire subversion of our republican government. Speaking 
of the difficulties and discouragements the catholic mis- 
sionaries have to contend with, in converting the Indians, 
the last difficulty in the way, he says, is ' their continual 
traffic among the whites, which cannot be hindered as 

LONG AS THE REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT SHALL SUBSIST.' 

The Catholic Telegraph, a Boman Catholic Journal, in 
commenting on the case of the burning of the convent near 
Boston, says, ' this one fact is condemnation of the system 
of American institutions, confirmed lately by numerous 
other proofs.' Let republicans hear this.f 

In this detestation of our political principles, bishop 
England, with all his apparent love of liberty, fully con- 
curred. In one of his letters to Ireland, he ventured to 
write as follows.^ * How often did I wish my voice could 
be heard across the deep, proclaiming, at your meetings, 
what I have seen and heard, since I left you ! A people 

* Ibid, p. 75. See all of chap . vii. pp. 6, 73, &c 

t Foreign Conspiracy, pp. ISO, 181. 

% Breckinridge and Hughes's Discussion, p. 376. 



192 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



valuing freedom, and, in the plenitude of its enjoyment, 
destroying religion, nay, having nearly effected its destruc- 
tion, by reducing to practice here the principle which the 
vetoists and conciliators contend for among you. The 
Americans are loud in their reprobation of your servile 
aristocracy, who would degrade religion, by placing its 
concerns under the control of a king's minister; and could 
your aristocrats, and place-hunters, view the state of 
catholicity here, they would inveigh against the demo- 
crats, who would degrade religion, by placing its concerns 
under the control of a mob ; and I am perfectly convinced, 
both are right. In both cases the principle is exactly the 
same ; the mode of carrying it into operation is differ- 
ent. I am convinced, that if those gentlemen of the Irish 
hierarchy, who are suspected, and I fear with good reason, 
of being favorable to vetoistical arrangements, had each 
one month's experience of the operation of the principle 
here, their good sense, and piety, and zeal for religion, 
would compel them to suffer inconvenience, rather than 
commit the fate of the religion of millions under their 
charge, and myriads yet unborn, to the influence of a most 
destructive principle, to release themselves and their flock 
from the mitigated persecution under which they still 
suffer. . . .The people here, claim, and endeavor to assume, 
the same power which these classes and conditions would 
give to the crown amongst you — though not to the same 
extent. The consequence is, that religion is neglected, 
degraded, despised, and insulted with impunity! So much 
for the republicanism of bishop England. 

Let it not be forgotten, that the church of Rome is a 
state as well as a church. The pope, who impiously styles 
himself the ' vicar of Jesus Christ,' claims both temporal 
and spiritual jurisdiction over the whole earth. In proof 
of this, we shall cite three witnesses out of a multitude, 
who stand ready to confirm it. One of these is pope 
Sixtus V. His bull against Henry, king of Navarre, and 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



193 



the prince of Conde, begins thus : ' The authority given 
to St. Peter and his successors, by the immense power of 
the Eternal King, excels all the powers of earthly kings and 
princes — it passes uncontrollable sentence on them all — 
and if it finds any of them resisting God's ordinance, it 
takes more severe vengeance of them, casting them down 
from their thrones, though never so puissant, and tumbling 
them down to the lowest parts of the earth, as the minis- 
ters of aspiring Lucifer.' And then he proceeds — ' We 
deprive them and their posterity, for ever, of their dominions 
and kingdoms! Our second witness shall be pope Pius V. 
In his bull against Queen Elizabeth, in which he pretends 
to absolve all her nobles and subjects from their allegiance 
to her, he affirms, that God has constituted the Roman 
pontiff 'prince over all nations and all kingdoms, that he 
might pluck up, destroy, dissipate, ruinate, plant, and build.' 
Our third witness shall be pope Boniface VIII. There 
is a decree of his in the canon law, running thus : — ' We 
declare, say, define, pronounce it to be of necessity to sal- 
vation, for every human creature to be subject to the Roman 
pontiff^ 

Popery embodies in itself the closest union of church 
and state.! ' In the Roman states, the same individual 
holds both civil and ecclesiastical offices. The pope is 
the king. A cardinal is secretary of state. The consistory 
of cardinals is the cabinet council, the ministry, and they 
are viceroys in the provinces The archbishops are am- 
bassadors to foreign courts. The bishops are judges and 
magistrates, and the road to preferment to most, if not all 
the great offices of state, is through the priesthood.'! 

* See Address of the Am. Prot. Assoc. 

t Foreign Conspir. pp. 90, 177, and Brownlee, as above, p. 125. 

\ Bishop England, in his work ' On the Ceremonies of the Holy 
Week,' says, (quoted in Breckinridge and Hughes's Discuss, p. 377.) 
' In the venerable successor of St. Peter, I behold the former active, 
zealous, and enlightened prefect of the propaganda, whose deep interest, 
and laborious exertions, in the concerns of the church of the United 
States, have been so beneficial.' He calls the company of the cardi- 
17 



194 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



"Nor is this politico-ecclesiastical influence asleep among 
us. Who are so great politicians as our Romish prelates, 
priesthood, and laity ? Have they not openly interfered 
with our systems of public school education ? Have they 
not issued their political tickets, and enjoined all Roman- 
ists to vote them in ? Have they not, by their influence, 
in some cases, gained their purposes in both these res- 
pects ? Have they not withdrawn from our public and 
common orphan asylums, as well as schools, that they 
may bring up the future citizens of America in all the 
blindness, bigotry, and superstition of their anti-republican 
system ? Have not the European nations united in a 
grand society, for the purpose of promoting the diffusion 
of Romish doctrines, and through them, the destruction 
of our republican institutions ? # Popery is a political sys- 
tem. Its connection with Christianity is merely in name, 
and for the purpose of more completely effectuating its 
purposes. It proclaims that all power, temporal and 
spiritual, exists in the pope ; that liberty of conscience is 
a ' raving and most pestilential error ; ' that it ' execrates 
and detests the liberty of the press ; ' that the people have 
no right or capacity to rule or govern ; that liberty of dis- 
cussion is not to be tolerated ; that no responsibility in 
financial matters is due to the people. It is a union of 
church and state. It is, in its nature, despotic and anti- 
republican. Its increase among us is the certain decrease 
of civil and religious freedom, and its dominance must 
prove their inevitable ruin. Popery, by its most essential 
principles, is under the control of a foreign despotic sove- 
reign, who is himself the tool of Austria, which is the 

nals, ' the venerable and eminent senate of the christian world,' praises 
the pope for that very effort against ' liberty,' which breathes through 
the detestable ' Encyclical Letter,' so repeatedly alluded to in the con- 
troversy, (that letter was published Aug. 15th, 1832, and the bishop's 
book appeared at Rome, March 26, 1833.) and he says, ' that stripping 
the holy see of its temporal independence, would inflict a deep wound 
on religion.'' 

* Foreign Conspiracy. See this avowed in Europe, at p. 81. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



195 



avowed enemy of all liberty, and to whose despot is com- 
mitted the superintendence of the operations of popery in 
this country.* 

' And yet, the body of our protestant population, whether 
through ignorance, self-security, or whatever cause, remain 
indifferent to this subject. While Romanism is establish- 
ing its proselyting schools throughout the land, to pervert 
the tender minds of our youth ; and directing its efforts to 
destroy the religious character and influence of public 
protestant education ; and organizing itself under a foreign 
priesthood, for direct interference with our political elec- 
tions ; and publishing and circulating the most opprobrious 
assaults upon the doctrines of our protestant faith ; and 
segregating its adherents into a distinct body, alien in 
sympathy and interest from the mass of the American 
people ; a large portion of our protestant citizens, who 
might with ease arrest the progress of these evils, seem 
unwilling even to be apprized of their existence ; and, 
instead of opposing them, actually contribute of their funds 
to maintain popish churches, asylums, and seminaries, and 
commit their children to the tutelage of popish priests and 
nuns.'t 

In opposing popery, as thus dangerous to the common- 
wealth, we do so on political grounds. We quarrel not 
with the liberty of opinion, as exercised by papists. We 
would not deny to them a full equality of rights. But 
they have more. Other denominations have renounced 
all foreign jurisdiction. But Romanists still adhere to it, 
in opposition to those constitutional principles, on which 
our republican government is founded. The subjects of 
no popish government acknowledge a foreign protestant 
authority, and yet the citizens of this country are allowed 
to enjoy all its privileges, while subject to a foreign popish 

* For. Conspiracy, pp. 40, 71, 118, 129. 
t Address pf Arri. Prot. Assoc, 



196 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



authority, independent of their own government. By his 
spiritual supremacy, the pope assumes the title of God's 
vicegerent ; cancels covenants and promises ; annihilates 
public declarations; arrogates to the paparchy the sole 
right of interpreting the scriptures ; excludes all protest- 
ants, heretics, and infidels, from the pale of the church, 
from all authority to preach the word of God, and from all 
share in the promises of Christ's kingdom. Now the 
jurisdiction of such a foreign potentate, with such powers, 
ecclesiastical and spiritual, cannot but be prejudicial, if not 
ultimately destructive to the liberties of this free common- 
wealth. This pope refused to establish toleration, even 
at the urgency of Napoleon.* He thus avouched all the 
persecuting principles and practices, with which the his- 
tory of popery is identified. And this pope is the supreme 
ruler of all the papists in this land. But ought this so to 
be ? If they only are fellow-citizens who are equally sub- 
ject to the same laws, and to the same power, how can 
they be fellow-citizens in this republic, who owe allegiance 
to a foreign power, and to foreign laws, and who cannot, 
until this allegiance is withdrawn, acknowledge the 
entire sovereignty of a free people, or of this government* 
This was declared to be the case, by the British parlia- 
ment,! and by our continental congress.^ It is also the 
doctrine of Locke, in his celebrated letter on toleration. h 
' Another more secret evil,' says he, ' but more dangerous 
to the commonwealth, is when men arrogate to them selves, 
and to those of their own sect, some peculiar prerogative, 
covered over with a specious show of deceitful words, but 
in effect opposite to the civil rights of the community. 
For example, we cannot find any sect that teaches, ex- 

* Breckinridge and Hughes's Discussion, p 373. 
t See Burgess's Tracts, p. 257. 

X Address to the People of Great Britain, Oct. 21, 1774, (in Journals 
of vol. i. p. 30; in Breckinridge's Discuss, p. 340,) on occasion of the 
establishment of Romanism in Canada. 

§ In Wks. vol. ii. pp. 342, 343. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 197 

pressly and openly, that men are not obliged to keep their 
promise ; that princes may be dethroned by those that 
differ from them in religion ; or that the dominion of all 
things belongs only to themselves. For these things, propo- 
sed thus nakedly and plainly, would soon draw on them the 
eye and hand of the magistrate, and awaken all the care 
of the commonwealth, to a watchfulness against the 
spreading of so dangerous an evil. But nevertheless we 
find those that say the same things in other words. What 
else do they mean, who teach that ' faith is not to be kept 
w^ith heretics ? ' Their meaning forsooth is, that the priv- 
ilege of breaking faith belongs unto themselves ; for they 
declare all that are not of their communion to be heretics, 
or at least declare them so whensoever they think fit. 
What can be the meaning of their asserting, that ' kings, 
excommunicated, forfeit their crowns and kingdoms ? ' It 
is evident that they thereby arrogate unto themselves the 
power of deposing kings ; because they challenge the 
power of excommunication, as the peculiar right of their 
hierarchy. ' That dominion is founded in grace,' is also 
an assertion by which those that maintain it, do plainly 
lay claim to the possession of all things. For they are not 
so wanting to themselves, as not to believe, or at least as 
not to profess themselves to be the truly pious and faith- 
ful. These, therefore, and the like, who attribute unto 
the faithful, religious, and orthodox, that is, in plain terms, 
unto themselves, any peculiar privilege or power above 
other mortals, in civil concernments ; or who, upon pre- 
tence of religion, do challenge any manner of. authority 
over such as are not associated with them in their eccle- 
siastical communion; I say these have no right to be 
tolerated by the magistrate, as neither those that will not 
own and teach the duty of tolerating all men in matters 
of mere religion. For what do all these and the like doc- 
trines signify, but that they may, and are ready upon any 
occasion, to seize the government, and possess their^ ' 
17* 



198 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



of the estates and fortunes of their fellow-subjects ; and 
that they only ask leave to be tolerated by the magis- 
trates, so long, until they find themselves strong enough 
to effect it/ 

' Again : That church can have no right to be tolerated 
by the magistrate, which is constituted upon such a bot- 
tom, that all those who enter into it, do thereby, ipso facto, 
deliver themselves up to the protection and service of 
another prince. For by this means, the magistrate would 
give way to the settling of a foreign jurisdiction in his own 
country, and suffer his own people to be listed, as it were, 
for soldiers, against his own government. Nor does the 
frivolous and fallacious distinction, between the court and 
the church, afford any remedy to this inconvenience ; espe- 
cially when both the one and the other are equally subject 
to the absolute authority of the same person., who has not 
only power to persuade the members of his church to 
whatsoever he lists, either as purely religious, or as in 
order thereunto ; but can also enjoin it on them on pain of 
eternal fire. It is ridiculous for any one to profess himself 
to be a mahometan, only in religion, but in every thing 
else a faithful subject to a christian magistrate, whilst at 
the same time, he acknowledges himself bound to yield 
blind obedience to the mufti of Constantinople ; who is 
himself entirely obedient to the Ottoman emperor, and 
frames the feigned oracles of that religion, according to 
his pleasure. But this mahometan, living amongst chris- 
tians, would yet more apparently renounce their govern- 
ment, if he acknowledged the same person to be head of 
his church, who is the supreme magistrate in the state.' 

Precisely similar are the views taken of the Romish 
system, by Milton, in his Tract on Toleration * 

What, we ask, has been the influence of popery in 
Britain ? Does not history attest that the popish priest- 

* Of True Religion, Heresy, Schism, and Toleration, in Wks. vol. 
iv. pp. 264, 265. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



199 



hood were inimical to civilization and education ; that the 
nation became an easy prey to the Italian court ; and that 
the clergy, being vassals and agents of Rome, and owning 
no fealty to their sovereign, were the promoters of tyranny, 
cruelty, and vice* And what has been its influence 
every where ? Let the members of our continental con- 
gress, in the Address referred to, answer. 1 Nor can we 
suppress our astonishment, that a British parliament 
should ever consent to establish, in that country, a religion 
that has deluged your island in blood, and dispersed im- 
piety, bigotry, persecution, murder, and rebellion, through 
every part of the world.' 

The testimony of our fathers is still needful ; and will 
be so, as long as the supremacy and infallibility of Rome, 
continues to be regarded as the centre of the Romish 
system. So long does it make itself accountable for all 
the persecution and intolerance, which have hitherto 
characterized its progress. So long does it stand forth a 
political and despotic system, under the name of a 
church. And so long must it be regarded as inimical to 
all freedom, civil and religious, and to be opposed by all 
patriots and republicans, of every name, sect, and party. 
The supremacy and infallibility of Rome, are not articles 
of faith. They are found in none of the early creeds, not 
to say the Bible. They cannot therefore be essential, 
even to the religion denominated Romanism. Let them 
then be abjured. Let Romanists do as other sects have 
done. We cannot, otherwise, put confidence in any dec- 
larations, promises, or asseverations, they may make. The 
people are, we believe, many of them, as heartily repub- 
lican, as are protestants. But they are so in spite of their 
system ; and because, so long as Romanists are a minority, 
appearances must be kept up, and the people are there- 
fore left as far as possible at liberty. This much is ad- 

* See this shown in ' England under the Popish Yoke,' hy Rev. C. E. 
Armstrong, of Oxford. 



200 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



mittedby Tocqueville himself* He says, • if, then, the cath- 
olic citizens of the United States are not forcibly led, by the 
nature of their tenets, to adopt democratic and republican 
principles, at least they are not necessarily opposed to 
them ; and their social position, as well as their limited num- 
ber, obliges them to adopt these opinions. Most of the 
catholics are poor, and they have no chance of taking a 
part in the government, unless it be open to all the citizens. 
They constitute a minority, and all rights must be res- 
pected, in order to insure to them the free exercise of 
their own privileges. These two causes induce them, 
unconsciously, to adopt political doctrines, which they 
would, perhaps, support with less zeal, if they were rich 
and preponderant J 

To use., then, the words of a true-hearted republican,f 
we say, ' No ! our liberties must be preserved, and we 
say firmly to the popish bishops and priests among us, 
give us your declaration of your relation to our civil gov- 
ernment. Renounce your foreign allegiance, your alle- 
giance to a foreign sovereign. Let us have your own 
avowal, in an official manifesto, that the democratic gov- 
ernment under which you here live, delights you best. Put 
your ecclesiastical doings upon as open and popular a 
footing, as the other sects. Open your books to the people, 
that they may scrutinize your financial matters, that the 
people, your own people, may know how much they pay 
to priests, and how the priests expend their money ; that 
the poorest who is taxed from his hard-earned wages for 
church dues, and the richest who gives his gold to support 
your extravagant ceremonies, may equally know that their 
contributions are not misapplied. Come out and declare 
your opinion on the liberty of the press, on liberty of con- 
science, and liberty of opinion. Americans demand it. 

* Vol. i. p. 329. 

t Foreign Conspiracy, pp. Ill, 112. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 201 

They are waking up. They have their eyes upon you. 
Think not the American eagle is asleep. Americans are 
not Austrians, to be hood-winked by popish tricks. This 
is a call upon you, you will be obliged soon to regard. 
Nor will they be content with partial, obscure avowals, of 
republican sentiments in your journals, by insulated priests 
or even bishops. The American people will require a 
more serious testimonial of your opinions on these funda- 
mental political points. You have had convocations of 
bishops at Baltimore. Let us have, at their next assem- 
bling, their sentiments on these vital points. Let us have 
a document, full and explicit, signed by their names ; a 
document that may circulate as well in Austria and Italy, 
as in America. Ay, a document that may be published 
' con permissione/ in the Diario di Roma, and be circula- 
ted to instruct the faithful in the united church, the church 
of but one mind, in the sentiments of American democratic 
bishops on these American principles. Let us see how 
they will accord with those of his holiness, pope Gregory 
XVI, in his late encyclical letter ! Will popish bishops 
dare to put forth such a manifesto ? We shall see. 



CHAPTER V. 



THE LIBERALITY OF PRESBYTERY. 



SECTION I . 

True liberality, as distinguished from bigotry and latitudi- 
narianism. explained. 

Closely connected with the question of republicanism, 
is that of liberality. The two things have become, from 
their inseparable connection, almost identified and synon- 
ymous. Republicanism is based upon the exercise of lib- 
erality. It follows necessarily, that any ecclesiastical 
system which lays claim to the character of republicanism, 
must be able also to establish its liberality. No charges 
have been more confidently made against presbyterianism, 
than those of illiberality, bigotry, and exclusiveness,* while 
the most lofty pretensions to charity, liberality, and com- 
prehensiveness, are continually set forth by other denom- 
inations. It may, therefore, be of service to examine this 
matter, and to offer such observations as our brief limits 
will admit, in vindication of our most abused and misrep- 
resented church. We are at once willing to admit, that 
that system of church polity and of doctrine must be most 
scriptural, which most strongly and most directly tends to 
foster the holy and heavenly temper of christian charity 

l * See of late Dr. How's Vind. of the Prot. Ep. Ch. Newman's Lect. 
on Roman, p. 195. The Charleston Gospel Messenger, Feb. 1840, p. 
368. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



203 



and true liberality ; and that the most unscriptural and 
corrupt, which gen erates the greatest amount of illiberally 
and bigoted exclusiveness. ' By this shall all men know 
that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one towards 
another, for love is the fulfilling of the law.' By their 
fruits, therefore, ye shall know them. 

But there is, perhaps, no subject, except that of liberty, 
on which more confused and erroneous views prevail, 
than the subject of liberality. For just as liberty is con- 
founded by many with licentiousness, so is liberality, by 
many others, confounded with indifference ; and just as 
in the one case we are conducted to anarchy and the per- 
petration of every evil work, so are we in the other case 
brought to the verge of universal skepticism. 

True liberality stands equally distinguished from licen- 
tiousness or skepticism, and from implicit faith in the 
teaching of another ; just as true liberty is equally dis- 
tinct from passive obedience to despotic authority, and 
from that unbridled independence, which, submitting to 
no just government or laws, leads necessarily to anarchy 
and confusion ; or as true liberty of thought, the right and 
duty of private judgment, is widely separated from that 
fatalism, which would render the mind a mere machine, 
under the direction of necessary laws, over which it has 
no control. Liberality is also to be distinguished from 
what is improperly termed free thinking, by which the 
mind is thrown loose upon its own vagrant notions, with- 
out the government of any rules, or the direction of any 
method or order. 

And as true liberty is found in the just administration 
of wise and impartial laws, and in the subjection of every 
member of the body politic to those laws ; — as our nat- 
ural liberty is only properly exercised in furtherance of its 
true end and use, when determined by wise motives ; — 
and as, further, true freedom of thought consists in think- 
ing justly, in conformity to the real nature of things, and 



204 ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 

the evidence before us, and in not yielding to the impulse 
of mere feeling, passion, or prejudice ; — so in like manner 
true liberality lies, not in the confounding of all distinction 
between right and wrong, or in giving equal approbation 
to truth and error, but in making essential only that which 
is truly fundamental ; in allowing free difference of opinion 
in things not clearly essential ; in candidly interpreting 
the views and professions of those who differ from us ; 
and in the ratification of the great fundamental principle 
of all liberty — that in matters of opinion, which do not 
interfere with the personal or relative rights of men, as 
members of civil society, men are amenable only to God, 
and not punishable by one another. In short, true liber- 
ality is most comprehensively expressed by the elegant 
declaration of Augustine, ' that in things essential there 
should be unity; in things not essential, liberty; and in 
all things, charity.'* 

But it is important more carefully to analyse the nature 
and bearings of true liberality. All virtue has been rep- 
resented as a course of action midway between two 
extremes or vices, which are the perversions of the truth 
for contradictory ends. Liberality is thus found to be the 
safe and middle passage between the Scylla and Charybdis 
of bigotry and latitudinarianism. Let us then ascertain 
the bearings and danger of these respectively. 

Bigotry is an attachment to certain doctrines, forms, or 
party, for other reasons than their intrinsic excellence; 
and in other measures than is warranted by their impor- 
tance. It is, therefore, undiscriminating, and generally 
malicious. Such doctrines, forms, or party, may or may 
not be in themselves worthy of approbation ; but when 
they are adhered to without proper regard to the evidence 
on which they rest, or under the influence of improper 



* See Dr. Jibot's Disc of Free Thinking, falsely so called, in Boyle 
Lect. Fol. vol. ii. p. 740, &c. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



205 



motives, the individual so adhering, is a bigot, and his 
conduct bigotry. Bigotry therefore implies an obstinate 
and blind attachment to some particular system ; unreason- 
able zeal and warmth in its defence, and in favor of those 
who maintain it; and excessive prejudice and illiberality 
towards those who differ. It gives to such doctrines o* 
forms an undue and extravagant importance, without 
taking into account other facts and considerations, which 
ought to be viewed in connection with them. Such doc- 
trines, practices, or forms, may be in themselves correct, 
or even scriptural, but an importance is attached to them 
disproportioned to their true value ; and consequences 
deduced from them, and a course of action founded upon 
them, which are not warranted by a sound understanding, 
or by any thing in the word of God* Bigotry, therefore, 
is so far forth a mental aberration, a species of religious 
insanity. ' It possesses its victims with some one subject, 
and with the advantages and benefits supposed to flow 
from it, so exclusively, as to prevent the mind from regard- 
ing other facts and considerations, which are adapted to 
remove such erroneous impressions. Like the insane 
person, the bigot may either form correct data, and then 
reason incorrectly upon them, or from unsound premises 
may deduce the most distorted and extravagant inferences. 
Like him, too, the bigot is blind to all objections, insensible 
to all difficulties, deaf to all persuasion, and with concen- 
trated energy rushes towards his conclusions, as in them- 
selves certain and inevitable. Like him, too, the bigot 
reasons plausibly and ingeniously, catching rapidly inci- 

* 1 Illiberality of mind,' say the Oxford Tractators, (Oxf. Tr. vol. i. 
pp. 427, 42S,) 'in religious matters, bigotry, intolerance, and the like, 
is the disposition to make unimportant points important, to make them 
terms of communion, watchwords of parties, and so on.' 

'Now the church catholic acts on the principle of insisting on no 
points but such as are of importance, of judging of opinions variously, 
according to their respective importance, of acknowledging no parties, 
and of protesting and witnessing against all party spirit and party 
dogmas.' 

18 



206 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



dental and partial relations, and making the worse appear 
the better reason. In short, certain ideas fix themselves 
in his mind, to the entire exclusion of all others, or at least 
from that degree of influence with which they should 
affect his mind, in his estimate of the true nature of the 
subject, and of its relation to other truths. Such is 
bigotry. 

But there is a not less dangerous extreme on the other 
side ; we mean latitudinarianism, or indifference ; and 
which is the ordinary article found in the market of the 
world, under the name of liberality. To escape from 
bigotry, men rush to the opposite extreme, and instead of 
over-valuing any truths, undervalue all ; put truth and 
error upon the same footing ; make essential and unessen- 
tial truths of equal importance ; and thus proclaim the 
absolute indifference of all opinions, and the equal correct- 
ness of all creeds, practices, and sects. Hence has been 
begotten that monster of modern philosophy — the inno- 
cence of error. This boasting pyrrhonism, 

Will knit and break religions ; bless the accursed; 
Make the hoar leprosy adored ; exalt heresiarchs ; 
And give them title, knee, and approbation, 
With martyrs, prophets, and apostles, 

This is the ' great truth' of modern liberality ; or as Junius 
styles it, ' that shameful indifference about the interests 
of society, (we say truth,) which too many of us profess 
and call moderation.' But nothing can be more absurd or 
impious, than this same idolized liberalism. It is forgot- 
ten that even civil liberty and political tolerance, are 
founded upon, and spring forth from, eternal and immuta- 
ble truth ; that truth which has triumphed over falsehood, 
and its hateful offspring, uncharitableness, fire, fagot, and 
all inquisitorial arguments against the persons of heresi- 
archs. Society itself, all personal and social rights, all the 
blessings of civil and religious freedom, depend upon the 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



207 



maintenance of truth, and the rejection of error. Admit 
the principle of liberalism in religion, and you have radi- 
calism in politics, and skepticism in every thing, and thus 
would the axe be laid at the very root of the glorious tree of 
human happiness. There is — there must be truth, in 
opposition to error, politically, morally, and religiously 
But all truth is necessarily exclusive. It can admit of no 
compromise with error. Truth and error are the poison, 
and the antidote — the bane and the balm — the weal and 
the wo, of humanity. It is one thing to exercise liber- 
ality towards the persons of opponents, and another thing 
to approve their sentiments. We may tolerate error — 
we cannot admit its truth. W e may refrain from all im- 
putation upon the motives, from all doubt of the sincerity, 
and from all judgment upon the consciences of others,— 
and yet have a conscience of our own. We may allow 
liberty of conscience to our fellow-men, without coming 
under any obligation to give up our own liberty of con- 
science. But if we are called upon to regard those opin- 
ions which differ diametrically from our own, as correct, 
we are required to sacrifice our own liberty. A man's 
belief is a very different affair, when considered in refer- 
ence to mere temporal matters, from what it is when 
religion is its subject ; whether, in short, we consider it as 
it regards his fellow men, or his God. On all subjects in 
which man may be regarded as the author, the speaker, 
and the inquirer, there is ample room for private judgment, 
for discussion, and for unlimited diversity of sentiment. 
But in religion, where God is the Author, and his word the 
speaker — where there can be but one right standard, and 
one right interpretation, we are limited by that word ; and 
to be indifferent to it, is either blasphemy or presumption.. 
As it relates to men, belief is beyond their control, or 
requisition, or penalty, and is the proper object of liber- 
ality, of tolerance, of charity, "and of kindness, while at 
the same time it cannot but affect our views of character, 



208 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



and trust-worthiness, and materially influence ns in our 
choice of friends and companions. Belief, as it relates to 
God, is, however, altogether different. It is a manifesta- 
tion of our conduct towards Him — of our regard to his 
will, whether in the way of opposition or compliance — 
and of our disposition towards his word, whether we 
receive or deny it. As it relates to God, we are therefore 
responsible for our belief, and shall be judged by it. In 
His sight truth is truth, and error error. He cannot approve 
the one, or condemn the other. 

So far, therefore, as any man is called to act or speak 
for God, he is at once excluded from all exercise of discre- 
tion. He can neither sell, alter, amend, lower, depreciate, 
or confound the truth. He can neither say more nor less 
than he finds in the written word of God, as he understands 
it; leaving however, to all, the exercise of their own un- 
derstandings in the interpretation of the divine oracles. If 
the gospel is a scheme of divine mercy and grace, and a 
system of divinely appointed institutions, then modern Ca- 
tholicism is nothing short of infidelity. It is full of contra- 
dictions, and is founded not upon evidence, but upon the 
want of it. It tends to beget and to diffuse a deistical 
spirit, wherever it is founds That abstract general Chris- 
tianity! which is no particular kind of Christianity, and 
which pronounces the unimportance of all points on which 
any christians have differed, can be only a very thinly- 
veiled deism, 

— still promising 
Freedom, itself too sensual to be free, 
Poisons life's amities, and cheats the soul 
Of faith, and quiet hope, and all that lifts, 
And all that soothes the spirit.J 

That there should be among christians unity and love, 
* See Dr. Emmons's Wks. vol.i. p. 36. 

t See Archbp. Whateley's Charges and other Tracts, p. 464. And 
Bampton Lect. p. 44. Also his Christ. Indep. of the Civil, Power, 
p. 105. Am. ed. 

J Coleridge's Poet. "Wks. i. 137. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



209 



harmony and cooperation, is undeniable. And that the 
variance among different denominations is attended with 
lamentable evils, is no less certain. The preservation of 
union is not; however, the first, greatest, or most impor- 
tant of christian duties — we are required to be ' first pare.' 
One great end of the organization of the church was the 
preservation of the truth, and the overthrow of error. But 
if all differences of opinion are immaterial, where is the 
standard by which Christianity is distinguished from deism ? 
And if there is no limit, of what use is the Bible or the in- 
stitutions of Christianity ? None at all. The authority of 
scripture is at once undermined, and its power shaken, 
when such sentiments are adopted, since 1 contending 
for the faith,' though not in the spirit of contention, is a ne- 
cessary part of christian obligation. So also are zeal, 
energy, and devotedness ; but how can these coexist 
with a principle that embraces, in the arms of charity, all 
sects, whether they profess arianism, socinianism, materi- 
alism, universalism, or any other creed ? Such must be, 
and such have been, the results of this spirit of liberalism, 
as is manifest in the present and past condition of the 
churches in France, in Germany, in New England, and in 
Ireland.* ' What do you perceive every where/ say s the 
Abbe La Mennais,t in the 8th ed. of his Essay on Indiffer- 
ence, ' but a profound indifference as to duties and creeds, 
with an unbridled love of pleasure and of gold, by means of 
which any thing can be obtained ? All is bought, for all is 
sold ; conscience, honor, religion, opinions, dignities, power, 
consideration, respect even ; a vast shipwreck of all truths, 

* So also in Hungary. Speaking of them, Dr. Duncan says, ' Through 
the fires of oppression these once famous churches passed, and shone 
with all the greater spiritual brightness. Now they enjoy greater ease, 
but the canker of indifference has blasted all their beauty, and well- 
nigh eaten away the very life— leaving, I fear, in most cases, a politi- 
cal protestantism instead of a living religion. — Home and For. Miss. 
Record of the Ch. of Scotl. 1S42, p. 45. 

f In Palmer on the Ch. vol i.p. 348. 

18* 



210 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



and all virtues.'. ' Atheism,' said Leibnitz, 1 will be the last 
of heresies, and in effect, indifference, which marches in its 
train, is not a doctrine, for genuine Indifferents deny nothing, 
affirm nothing ; it is not even doubt, for doubt being sus- 
pense between contrary probabilities, supposes a pre- 
vious examination; it is a systematic ignorance, a volun- 
tary sleep of the soul. . . . Such is the hideous and sterile 
monster which they call indifference. All philosophic the- 
ories, all doctrines of impiety have melted and disappear- 
ed in this devouring system From this fatal system, be- 
come almost universal, has resulted, under the name of tol- 
erance, a new sort of temptation.' 

To yield up truth, then, is not a moderate, but an immod- 
erate compliance. To compromise in indifferent matters 
is charity and civility ; but to do so where the interests of 
truth and justice are concerned, is a manifest renunciation 
both of the one and the other. It is the substitution of the 
fallible standard of human opinion, for the infallible rule 
of the divine word. 

The truth of any opinion as a doctrine of Christianity, 
depends not upon our view or belief of it, but upon the ev- 
idences that it is indeed a revealed doctrine of God ; — and 
the necessary character of that truth to the salvation of 
man, rests upon the proofs that it is revealed, as such, in the 
Bible. As long, therefore, as there is stronger proof for 
one opinion than its contrary, as a doctrine of the Bible, 
these two opinions cannot be put upon a level, nor can 
we regard the one in the same light as the other. 

Indolence may lead men to approve what they will not 
examine or understand ; but such commendation is not a 
virtue, but a vice ; while those who persist in error through 
pride or bigotry, or enmity to the truth, deserve not appro- 
bation, but condemnation. Besides, to require indiffer- 
ence to what must be regarded as error, is to render the 
exercise of charity, that chief christian grace, impossible ; 
for what is charity, but the exercise of forgiveness and al- 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



211 



lowance towards such as are in fault, and the treating with 
candor and with personal kindness those whose principles 
we disapprove ? # Finally, it is not a little demonstrative 
of its entire insincerity and hypocrisy, that this cry of lib- 
erality is found in the mouths of those who, in reference to 
what makes for their own interest, are most rigorous with 
their fellow-men. The liberality of such men is only ex- 
ercised about those things which belong not to themselves, 
but to God. Now, experience has shown that the most 
intolerant of all classes of individuals are those who, skep- 
tical themselves, support religion merely on the ground of 
expediency — that the worst of all fanaticism is the bigotry 
of unbelief, and that, of all bigots, the worst is the bigot 
to modern liberality.! As far as principles are concerned, 
certainly, the latitudinarian is the more likely to be in- 
tolerant, and the sincerely conscientious tolerant. A man 
who is careless about religious sincerity, may clearly see 
and appreciate the political convenience of religious uni- 
formity ; and if he has no religious scruples of his own, 
he will not be the more likely to be tender of the religious 
scruples of others ; if he is ready himself to profess what 
he does not believe, he will see no reason why others 
should not do the same.$ 

' Cruel, then, must that indifference needs be, that 
shall violate the strict necessity of conscience ; merciless 
and inhuman that free choice and liberty, that shall break 
asunder the bonds of religion.^ 

1 Judge by the fruits it bears, the stately tree, [| 

Not by its seeming liberality, 

A thing most noble, if 't is not abused, 

May yet be overstrained ; thus, now no more, 

* See Whateley's Bampton Lectures, p. 217, 3d ed. 
t See Edinb. Rev. Jan. 1S37, p. 269. 

| Whateley's Kingdom of Christ, Essay i. pp. 48,49. Eng. ed. 
§ Milton's Prose Wks. vol. i. p. 38. 

11 The Deity, a Poem, by T. Wragg. Lond. 1834. 2d ed. p. 291. 



212 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



Scorned and accounted as a general foe, 
Forth from the ambush where he lay concealed, 
Stalked Infidelity abroad, unshamed ; 
With wily arts deceived the nations long, 
Like some huge mountain-torrent, in its course 
Widening and overturning, led men on, 
Unto the last tremendous battle-field, 
Of the Lord God Almighty.' 

' At the exact close of the prophetic period,' says Dr. Cro- 
ly, 'in 1793, the 1260th year from the birth of the papal 
supremacy, a power, new to all eyes, suddenly started up 
among the nations ; an Infidel democracy ! France, rend- 
ing away her ancient robes of royalty and laws, stood be- 
fore mankind a spectacle of naked crime. 

' But persecution had still its work. — All the churches 
of the republic were closed. All the rites of religion were 
forbidden. Baptism and the communion were to be ad- 
ministered no more. The seventh day was to be no long- 
er sacred ; but a tenth was substituted ; and on that day 
a public orator was to read a discourse on the wisdom of 
atheism. The reign of the demon was resistless. While 
Voltaire and Marat (infidelity and massacre personified) 
were raised to the honors of idolatry, the tombs of the kings, 
warriors, and statesmen of France were torn open, and the 
relics of men whose names were a national glory, tossed 
about in the licentious sport of the populace. Immortali- 
ty was publicly pronounced a dream ; and on the gates of 
the cemeteries was written, ' death is an eternal sleep !' 
In this general outburst of frenzy, all the forms and feel- 
ings of religion, true or false, were alike trodden under the 
feet of the multitude. Despotism had been subtle, ambi- 
tious, and revengeful ; republics stern and cruel ; democ- 
racies wild, capricious, and sanguinary. But there was 
still a saving principle ; religion was not altogether abjur- 
ed. But now all religion was abjured ; and as the act 
was utterly without example, so were the horrors that in- 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



213 



stantly followed. Vice itself assumed a blacker hue — 
* A hundred thousand heads must fall ! ' was the unequiv- 
ocal principle of the leaders of the state. The fact out- 
ran the calculation, and the massacre amounted to mil- 
lions. The scaffold groaned from morning till night. The 
leaders themselves were successively swept away in the 
cataract of blood which they had let loose. Atheism, the 
last fury of the mind, had brought in anarchy, the last tor- 
ture of nations.' 

That man, therefore, whose own conscience is tender, and 
his sense of religion deepfelt and sincere, will be, (so far 
forth,) the more disposed to respect the conscience of anoth- 
er, and to avoid giving occasion to hypocritical professions. 
His own faith being founded on genuine conviction, he 
will seek for the genuine conviction of others, and not 
their forced conformity. He will remember, that ' the high- 
est truth, if professed by one who believes it not in his 
heart, is, to him, a lie, and that he sins greatly by profess- 
ing it.' # 

True liberality, then, is not indifference. They are es- 
sentially distinct. Indifference, or modern Catholicism, 
consists in looking upon all opinions as equally doubtful, 
or at least, as equally good. Liberality consists in ab- 
staining from condemning as guilty of evil intention, those 
who profess opinions which we consider false or per- 
nicious. Therefore, we can have the most ardent zeal for 
truth, and the most entire tolerance for the persons of 
those who reject it. We can detest error, and yet cherish 
him that deceives himself.f We are not obliged, in or- 
der to escape from bigotry, to adopt the monstrous conclu- 
sion, that religion is altogether a matter of no consequence. 
True liberality teaches, that religion is a matter between 

* Whateley, ibid, p. 49. 

t See Degerando on SelfEduc. p. 71. Whateley's Bampton Lect. 
p. 44. Charges and Tracts, p. 463. 



214 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



each man's own conscience and God — that no one's re- 
ligious opinions, so long as he does not molest his neigh- 
bor's civil rights, ought to interfere with his own ; — and 
that, as men, we should employ our conscience to sit in 
judgment on ourselves, not on our brother ; whose reli- 
gious errors, however great, and scruples, however foolish, 
should not prevent us from treating him as a good citizen, 
so long as he shows himself qualified and disposed to act 
as such. 

True liberality, therefore, is easily distinguished from 
bigotry and indifference.^ The bigoted man so narrows 
his mind to the compass of his belief, as to exclude every 
other object; the liberal man directs his views to every 
object which does not directly interfere with his belief. 
It is possible for the bigoted and the liberal man to have 
the same faith ; but the former mistakes its true ob- 
ject and tendency. Indifference, on the other hand, al- 
lows every man to think as he pleases ; to despise the 
opinions of others ; to hold nothing sacred but his own con- 
ceits ; and to accommodate his views to his inclinations. 
Of all mental aberrations, this boasted freedom is the 
most obnoxious, as it is fostered by the pride of the heart 
and the vanity of the imagination. Both bigotry and in- 
difference are the offspring of ignorance ; while true lib- 
erality is the handmaid of knowledge, and the daughter of 
truth and charity. t 

Patriotism is not a blind attachment to a particular 
society, nor a hardened indifference to the rights, inter- 
ests, and welfare of other nations. This sentiment, which, 
when guided by wisdom and justice, is useful ; has, when 
unrestrained in its intensity, turned states into gangs of 
robbers ; has constituted their mutual fidelity the more 
dangerous ; has aggravated the atrocities of war ; and 
generated the worst of all political evils, the tyranny of na- 

* Crabbe's Synonymes, p. 432. Eng. ed. 
t See Rennel on Skepticism, pp. 3-5. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



215 



tions over nations. True patriotism is founded injustice. 
It breathes the spirit of charity and kindness. It looks 
with complacency upon the prosperity of others, and seeks 
for its own country no more than a worthy emulation af- 
ter whatsoever things are true, pure, and noble. * 

Now it is equally plain, that the exclusive bigotry which 
founds its claim to catholicity upon the excommunication of 
all other churches, or their subjugation to the tyranny of its 
ecclesiastical uniformity, is not christian patriotism, or the 
charity and catholicity of the gospel. Enthusiastically at- 
tached as are its abettors to the name, they repudiate the 
reality ; and while glorying in their universality, and their 
privileges, they resemble the Spartans, who, while pro- 
claiming their liberty, were bound by ten thousand absurd 
restraints, and compelled to talk in a peculiar style, and to 
assume a peculiar manner. Christian charity is truly lib- 
eral in its tolerance of all minor and unessential differen- 
ces ; in its recognition of the rights and privileges of all 
christian bodies ; in hoping the best of all, and thinking 
evil of none ; and in seeking for itself only a preeminence 
in doctrine, order, and worship, as measured by the divine 
rule. 



SECTION II. 

The liberality of the presbyterian church, in her general 
principles as to the nature of the christian church. 

That middle position which we have thus defined, the 
true christian patriotism, equally removed from exclusive 
bigotry and from latitudinarian indifference, the Presbyte- 
rian Church desires to occupy. She holds the truth but in 
the spirit of charity ; and without condemning other church- 
es as fundamentally false, believes her own to be apostoli- 



216 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



cal and true. She despises not other churches, and yet does 
she hold it to be incontrovertibly plain, that her own de- 
nomination is to be preferred to all others. The presbyte- 
rian churches proclaim, as they believe, more gospel truth 
than many others. They present fewer hindrances in the 
way to that godliness which is in Christ Jesus, than any 
others. Their constitution and rales they regard as more 
consonant to the holy scriptures than any others. Great- 
er restraint can be laid upon scandalous vices and sins by 
them, than by any other systems ; while less opportuni- 
ty is given for the progress of errors than in other denomi- 
nations. By these, and similar advantages, the presby- 
terian church commends herself to the preference of all 
her members. But while claiming to be more purely scrip- 
tural and apostolical, she rejoices in the truth, that ' ev- 
ery church which professes the true catholic faith, and im- 
poses only catholic terms of communion, and is ready, out 
of the principles of brotherly love and charity, (that ce- 
ment of catholic communion,) to communicate with all 
churches, and to receive all churches to her communion 
upon these terms, is a truly catholic church.'* 

Our church distinguishes between the presbyterian 
church, as a true branch of the catholic visible church, 
and that universal church. ' The visible church,' says 
our confession, considered as ' catholic or universal under 
the gospel, (that is. not confined to one nation as before, 
under the law,) consists of all those, throughout the world, 
that profess the true religion, together with their children, 
and is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, the house 
and family of God, out of which there is no ordinary pos- 
sibility of salvation.'! The visible church, spoken of in 
our confession, is therefore coextensive with the human 
family, and embraces all of every name, age, and country, 
who profess the true religion. Our confession goes on to 



* Notes of the Ch. Exam. p. 13. 
t Conf. of Faith, ch. xxv. § 1. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 217 

\ 

show, that under this catholic visible church are to be in- 
cluded all 'particular churches, which are members 
thereof, and which are more or less pure.'* Far from 
excluding any branch of the church of Christ from her 
definition of the catholic visible church, they are all 
expressly included, as more or less pure ; while the only 
term of communion, which is laid down as essential to a 
membership in this visible church, is the profession of 
the true religion. 

Beyond this our church could not possibly go ; and 
therefore does she declare, that beyond this universal 
church, as thus including all who profess the true faith, 
1 there is no ordinary possibility of salvation.' It is not 
affirmed, that there is absolutely no possible salvation to 
any others. Neither is it said, that there is no cove- 
nanted salvation to any others. All that is taught is, 
that, so far as the scriptures teach, there is no ordinary 
possibility of salvation without the knowledge and pro- 
fession of the true faith. 

It is indeed further laid down, that ' unto this catholic 
visible church, Christ hath given the ministry, oracles, 
and ordinances of God;' but it is not taught that this 
ministry can consist only of presbyters, ordained by a 
presbyterian church ; or, that these ordinances can be 
validly administered only by such, and after the manner 
prescribed in our form of worship. On the contrary, it is 
most explicitly taught, in the very next chapter of our 
book,f that 'all saints that are united to Jesus Christ, 
their head, by his spirit and by faith . . . have com- 
munion in each other's gifts and graces, . . . are 
bound to maintain an holy fellowship and communion in 
the worship of God, and in performing such other spiritual 
services as tend to their mutual edification, . . . which 
communion, as God offereth opportunity, is to be extended 



* Ch. xxv. § 4. 

19 



t Ch. xx vi. § 1. 



218 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



unto all those, who, in every place, call upon the name 
of the Lord Jesus.*' 

In like manner, our church declares, among the pre- 
liminary principles of the Form of Government, chapter i. 
section 1, 'that God alone is Lord of the conscience, and 
hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments 
of men, which are in any thing contrary to his word, or 
beside it in matters of faith or worship ; therefore they 
[the framers of our presbyterian constitution] consider 
the rights of private judgment, in all matters that respect 
religion, as universal and unalienable ; they do not even 
wish to see any religious constitution, aided by the civil 
power, further than may be necessary for protection and 
security, and, at the same time, be equal and common to 
all others.' 

So far, respecting rights purely civil. In relation to the 
ecclesiastical rights of religious associations, respecting 
their own government and discipline, the same chapter 
continues to say : ' 2. In perfect consistency with the 
above principle of common right, every christian church, 
or union or association of particular churches, is entitled 
to declare the terms of admission into its communion, and 
the qualifications of its ministers and members, as well 
as the whole system of its internal government, which 
Christ hath appointed. In the exercise of this right, 
they may notwithstanding err, in making the terms of 
communion either too lax or too narrow ; yet, even in this 
case, they do not infringe upon the liberty or the rights of 
others, but only make an improper use of their own.' 
3, declares, that our Saviour hath appointed officers in 
his church to preach, administer the sacraments, and 
exercise discipline. 4, declares, ' that truth is in order 

* This shows the virulent enmity which induces prelatists (such 
as Dr. How, (see above,) and Romanists, such as bishop Hughes, 
(see Discussion with Breckinridge, p. 291,) to attempt to confine the 
above language to professors of the presbyterian faith. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



219 



to goodness' — 'that no opinion can be more pernicious 
or absurd, than that which brings truth and falsehood 
upon a level, and represents it as of no consequence 
what a man's opinions are ' — ' that, on the contrary, there 
is an inseparable connection between faith and practice, 
truth and duty. Otherwise it would be of no conse- 
quence to discover truth, or to embrace it.' ' 5. That 
while, under the conviction of the above principle, they 
think it necessary to make effectual provision, that all 
who are admitted as teachers be sound in the faith, they 
also believe there are truths and forms, respecting which 
men of good character and principles may differ ; and, in 
all these, they think it the duty, both of private christians 
and societies, to exercise mutual forbearance towards 
each other.' 

In the Form of Government, *chap. ii. the true religion 
is explained to be ' the holy religion of Christ.' In section 

4, it says, ' this catholic church hath been sometimes 
more, sometimes less, visible ; and particular churches, 
which are members thereof, are more or less pure, ac- 
cording as the doctrine of the gospel is taught and 
embraced, ordinances administered, and public worship 
performed, more or less purely among them.' Section 

5. ' The purest churches under heaven are subject both 
to mixture and error, and some have so degenerated as 
to become no churches of Christ, but synagogues of 
satan.' Section 6. ' There is no other head of the 
church but the Lord Jesus Christ ; nor can the pope of 
Rome be in any sense the head thereof, but is that anti- 
Christ,' &c. In the second chapter in the Form of Gov- 
ernment, we are instructed, that ' a particular church 
consists of a number of professing christians, with their 
offspring, voluntarily associated together for divine wor- 
ship and godly living, agreeably to the holy scripture, 
and submitting to a certain form of government' There 
is, in all these teachings, a careful and manifest dis- 



220 ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 

tinction made between the essentials of a church, and 
those things which are valuable, so far as they sustain 
and carry out those essentials, but which, in themselves 
considered, are not fundamental. 

"We shall now present a connected view of what we 
understand to be the purport and practical use of these 
principles ; and, in doing so, we shall employ the lan- 
guage of the Synod of Virginia, in its recent Pastoral 
Letter to the churches under their care, on intercourse 
with other denominations of christians* 

' First, then, we, as a church, claim no sort of civil rights 
or immunities for ourselves, which we do not claim 
equally and indiscriminately for all other denominations 
of christians ; and all that we claim of the civil power, 
and all that we are willing that it should bestow, is equal 
protection, for us, and all,* in the exercise of our religious 
duties, and the management of our ecclesiastical affairs. 
In matters purely religious, we hold that every man, and 
every society, have an absolute and unalienable right to 
do whatsoever may seem unto them good, so long as 
they do nothing inconsistent with the rights of others, or 
dangerous to the peace and good order of civil society. 

' All denominations of christians are equally entitled to 
the privilege of associating together, of worshipping God 
in their own way, of preaching and defending their own 
doctrines, and of controverting the doctrines of others, 
whensoever, wheresoever, and howsoever they may 
choose, provided they trespass not upon the civil rights 
of others. 

1 Should it so happen, that all the families of a town or 
neighborhood had for ages belonged to one of our congre- 
gations, this would give us no exclusive right to exercise 
our ministry there. Any man might legally come and 

* Adopted, Oct. 15th, 1842, and very generally approved and pub- 
lished. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



221 



offer to teach his own doctrines to such as were willing to 
receive him ; and we could not justly complain of him as 
a trespasser upon our rights. 

' But, whilst we profess the doctrine of religious free- 
dom, in its widest sense, we must not confound two 
things so essentially distinct as the rights which we 
claim under the law of the land, as members of civil so- 
ciety, and the rules of conduct which Christ prescribes to 
the members of his church, and to the churches as organ- 
ized associations. The law of the land necessarily surfers 
many things to be done with impunity which the moral 
law condemns, and the gospel declares to be inconsistent 
with the duties which christians owe to one another. 

' Secondly. We, as a church, concede to others not only 
the civil, but the ecclesiastical right, to organize them- 
selves under such form of government, and with such 
rules of discipline, and terms of communion, as they may 
deem most scriptural and most conducive to their spiritual 
welfare. The extracts from our standards show, that 
while we hold some certain form of government to be 
essential to the existence of a church, which is in its na- 
ture an organized society, we do not consider one par- 
ticular form of government exclusively valid and neces- 
sary. We prefer our presbyterian system, as, on the 
whole, most conformable to the primitive pattern, and 
most salutary in its practical operation ; but we can freely 
acknowledge, as sister churches in the kingdom of Jesus, 
those who adopt the congregational scheme, or the epis- 
copal system of three orders of ministers. We recognise 
the validity of their ministry and sacraments ; we com- 
mune freely with them, not only in our churches, but in 
theirs, unless excluded by their rules and principles. 

• You know fully our practice of inviting their ministers 
into our pulpits, and their members to our communion- 
table. You know also, that you are at perfect liberty, as 
presbyterians, to meet with them in their churches, and 
19* 



222 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



to receive the sacrament from the hands of their minis- 
ters. Of course, we do not advise you to forsake your 
own church and ministry, to attend the meetings of 
others. This would be an absurd and pernicious custom 
in any denomination, because it would disorganize the 
church itself, and destroy all settled principles and habits 
or order in the members. They whose ears are ever 
itching for novelty, and who run about from church to 
church, discover a levity and unsteadiness of mind incon- 
sistent with an enlightened faith, and with any sound 
principles of piety. Far better serve God with settled 
views, though erroneous in some immaterial points, than 
be ' unstable as water,' and ' carried about with every 
wind of doctrine."^ 

In addition to the sentiments presented in this paper, 
another consideration must be added, in order to complete 
our views of the church. ' The presbyterian church in the 
United States,' says Dr. Ttice,t ' lays very great stress on 
the terms voluntarily associated. During many ages, and 
in many parts of the world, it has been held, that the 
church possesses authority to compel men to receive her 
doctrines, and submit to her discipline. This pretension 

* A resolution of similar import was passed also within a few 
years by the Synod of S. C. and Georgia. That these are the views, 
not merely of the liberal party in our church, but of the ' straitest 
sect' among us, will be seen from the following quotation from the 
Baltimore Lit. and Relig. Mag. by Dr. R. J. Breckinridge, for 1840, p. 
582. ' The question of intercommunion amongst christian denom- 
inations is occupying the attention of various conductors of the public 
press. We beg leave to refer our readers to the January number of 
this Magazine for the present year, pp. 39-44, where they will find 
an article headed ' Unity of the Church,' and signed ' Catholicus ;' in 
which the whole case is put in a very simple light. That article is a 
contribution to our pages, by one of the oldest, most admired, and 
most extensively known ministers of Christ now alive ; and we cor- 
dially assent to its general principles and spirit. We give its con- 
cluding sentence: ' Christians, then, may lawfully associate in separate 
companies, and under a peculiar regimen, but they may not exclude 
any of Christ's disciples from his table, and the privileges of his house.' 
The italics are the author's. 

t Evang. Mag. vol. ix. p. 300. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



223 



grows naturally out of that transfer of power, which it 
has been maintained that Jesus Christ made to his 
church. Hence originated Acts of Uniformity, High 
Commission, and Star Chamber Courts; the Inquisition, 
with all its infernal apparatus ; the stake and the wheel, 
as instruments of conversion. Hence, too, in the name 
of the God of mercy, of the most holy and ever blessed 
Trinity, acts of cruelty have been perpetrated without 
number, of which fanatical and bloody-minded heathens 
might well be ashamed. A consideration of this subject, 
and careful examination of scripture, have convinced the 
presbyterian church, that it is of unspeakable importance 
to lay sound principles at the foundation of the christian 
association ; and to let it be seen, that religious liberty, 
from the very nature of the case, belongs to the members 
of the church. They form their society voluntarily' They 
maintain, that, ' in respect to God, no person who lives 
under the sound of the gospel is at liberty to do as he 
pleases, to embrace the gospel or reject it, as suits his 
inclination. But in respect to the authority of the 
church, every man ought, from the nature of the case, to 
be left to his own will. The reason is, that religion is 
essentially a matter of choice. It cannot exist in the 
heart except as it is chosen. There is no human power, 
the exercise of which can cause this ehoice to be made : 
there is no human knowledge, which can take cognizance 
of the heart, and decide on the character of its operations. 
"When the church, then, undertakes to do more than de- 
clare the will of Christ, it manifestly undertakes to exer- 
cise power which it does not possess.' 



224 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



SECTION III. 

The liberality of the presbyterian church, in her doctrine 
of the sacraments. 

Nor is our church less charitable in the views she gives 
of the sacraments. Dr. How, and other prelatists, have 
endeavored to fix upon our church the charge of an ex- 
clusiveness as abhorrent as their own. Dr. How affirms,* 
that ' the standards of the presbyterial societies ex- 
pressly declare, that there is no covenanted possibility of 
salvation out of the visible church.' In substantiation of 
this position, he quotes the following passage from our 
Confession of Faith.f ' The visible church % is the king- 
dom of the Lord Jesus Christ, the house and family of 
God, out of which there is no ordinary possibility of sal- 
vation.' 

He farther quotes, from the larger catechism, the two 
following answers : h ' A sacrament is a holy ordinance, 
instituted by Christ in his church, to signify, seal, and 
exhibit unto those that are within the covenant of 
grace, the benefits of his mediation; and to distinguish 

THEM FROM THOSE THAT ARE WITHOUT.' ' Baptism is not 

to be administered to any that are out of the visible 

CHURCH, AND SO STRANGERS FROM THE COVENANT OF 

promise, until they profess their faith in Christ, and obe- 
dience to him.' He then adds : II ' The position, that the 
standards of presbyterial societies confine all covenanted 
possibility of salvation within the pale of the visible 

* Vindic. of the Prot. Ep. Ch. N. York, 1816, p. 22. 

t We omit his quotation from the old Scottish Confession of Faith, 
which never was in any way in force in this country, although it will 
be equally explained by our remarks. 

% Vind. of the Prot. Ep. Ch. N. York. 1816, p. 23. 

\ Pp. 2, 24, 162, 166. || P. 25. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



225 



church, is thus completely established; the passages 
cited being of so very marked a character, as to leave no 
room for evasion.' 

But this conclusion is founded upon a false view of 
the doctrine of our standards, upon unfair quotations 
from them, and upon sophistical reasoning. It is founded 
upon a false view of the doctrine of our standards. The 
impression here made upon every reader's mind, is, that, 
in the passages quoted above, the terms ' visible church,' 
are to be understood of ' the presbyterian church/ and 
that, therefore, out of it there is no ordinary possibility 
of salvation. This is plain from what is said by this 
author further on. ' Pardon and salvation, then, are 
secured by covenant, to such societies as are founded on 
presbyterial ordination, and to such only.' # 

But from what has been already said as to the doctrine 
of our standards, concerning the visible church, it will be 
at once apparent, that this impression is entirely false, 
since, by the visible church, our church expressly under- 
stands ' all those, throughout the world, that profess the 
true religion,' including all particular churches, whether 
more or less pure, and whether prelatical or presbyterian. 
And therefore does it follow, that it is out of this body, 
that is, beyond all professing christians, that there is no 
ordinary possibility of salvation, and not out of the pres- 
byterian branch of the church. The sacraments also are 
here represented as having been given to this catholic 
visible church, and not to the presbyterian, or to any 
other branch of it. But for the unfair and partial quota- 
tions made by Dr. How, with a design to hide, and thus 
pervert, the truth, this view of our doctrine would have 
been manifest unto all men. Nor can his inference be 
eked out, even from his own most unfair and garbled 
quotations, but by the most sophistical reasoning. The 

# P. 32, in a note, this sentiment is repeated. 



226 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



whole doctrine of the divine covenants was evidently a 
mystery to this prelatical advocate, who could conceive 
of no other covenant, than one conferring ecclesiastical 
privileges upon some exclusively favored church. ' The 
covenant of grace,' he would seem never to have heard of. # 
' The covenant of promise,' was to him an enigma. And our 
whole doctrine beyond the depth of his theological re- 
searches. In order, therefore, to the ' complete establish- 
ment' of his charge, this redoubted champion of the pre- 
lacy, translates 1 the visible church,' — which, we have seen, 
includes all particular churches, — by ' the presbijterian 
church! He also renders ' the covenant of grace,' 
(wherein as our standards teach, ' God freely offereth 
unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ, . . . 
and promises to give unto all those that are ordained 
unto life, his Holy Spirit, to make them willing and able 
to believe,'!) by — the charter of the presbyterian church. 
He interprets, thirdly, ' them that are without,' that is, 
without or beyond this covenant of grace, by ' them that 
are without the pale of our particular church.' And, 
fourthly, he translates ' ordinary' (' no ordinary possibility 
of salvation,' <fcc.) by the opposite term of 1 covenanted! 
Such absurdities, one would think, must have been de- 
signedly put forth, with malice aforethought, since, in the 
same chapter of our book from which this author quotes, 
the true nature and universal reference of this covenant 
of grace is most/idly declared. $ 

* See also p. 94. 

f Conf. of Faith, ch. vii. § 3. 

I See sections v. and vi. ' The covenant of grace was differently ad- 
ministered in the time of the law, and in the time of the gospel ; 
under the law it was administered by promises, prophecies, sacrifices, 
circumcision, the paschal lamb, and other types and ordinances, deliv- 
ered to the people of the Jews, all fore-signifying Christ to come, 
which were for that time sufficient and efficacious, through the ope- 
ration of the Spirit, to instruct and build up the elect in faith, in the 
promised Messiah, by whom they had full remission of sins, and 
eternal salvation ; and is called the Old Testament.' 

' Under the gospel, when Christ the substance was exhibited, the 
ordinances in which this covenant is dispensed, are the preaching of 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



227 



SECTION IV. 

The liberality of the presbyterian church in her doctrine of 
ordination. 

Not less liberal, as has been seen, is our doctrine of 
ordination and the christian ministry, since by it the 
greatest possible charity is extended to all other denomi- 
nations. That we may not frame it to suit a purpose, 
let Baxter answer ; and let him do so at that time when 
presbyterianism was most triumphant, and when there 
was, therefore, least inducement to liberalize our views.* 
• Hence it appears,' says he,t ' that ordination is one 
means, conjunct with divers others, for the designa- 
tion of right qualified persons, described in the law of 
Christ, for the reception and exercise of the ministe- 
rial off! ce. And that the ends of it are : 1. To take 
care that the office fail not ; and, therefore, to call 
out fit men to accept it, if modesty or impediments hin- 
der them from offering themselves, or the people from 

the word, and the administration of the sacraments of baptism, and 
the Lord's supper ; which, though fewer in number, and administered 
with more simplicity, and less outward glory, yet in them it is held 
forth in more fulness, evidence, and spiritual efficacy, to all nations, 
both Jews and Gentiles ; and is called the New Testament. There 
are not, therefore, two covenants of grace, differing in substance, but 
one and the same, under various dispensations.' 

* The necessity for elucidating this point, will appear from the fol- 
lowing quotations. Dr. How frequently asserts, that presbyterians 
unmercifully unchurch the entire Greek communion, merely on the 
ground that they allow a single bishop to ordain ; ( Vind. of the Prot. 
Ep. Ch. p. 41 ;) the Quakers, (p. 39,) and in fact the entire church, 
until the fourth century, when he says ordination by presbyters first 
prevailed. Mr. Leslie also, in his letter on Episcopacy, [see in The 
Scholar Armed, vol. i. p. 79,] with that effrontery which seems to 
have made him reckless, whenever he gave vent to his abhorrence of 
dissent, ventures to assert as true, that 'the Presbyterian damns the 
Quaker; the Quaker damns him; Independent, Baptist, &c. all damn 
one another, and each denies the other's ordination, or call.' 

tDisput on Ch. Govt. Lond. 1659, pp. US, 149. See also a simi- 
lar view, at p. 221. 



228 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



nominating them. 2. To judge, in all ordinary cases, of 
the fitness of persons to the office, and whether they are 
such as scripture describeth, and calls out. 3. And to 
solemnize their admittance, by such an investiture, as 
when possession of a house is given by a ministerial tra- 
dition of a key; or possession of land by ministerial 
delivery of a twig, and a turf, or as a soldier is listed, a 
king crowned, marriage solemnized, after consent and 
title, in order to a more solemn obligation, and plenary 
possession ; such is our ordination.' 

' Hence it appeareth, that as the ordainers are not 
appointed to judge, whether the church shall have ordi- 
nances and ministers, or not, (no more than to judge 
whether we shall have a Christ and heaven, or not,) 
but who shall be the man ; so it is not to the being of the 
ministry simply, and in all cases, that ordination is neces- 
sary, but to the safe being and order of admittance, that 
the church be not damnified by intruders.' 

1 Ordination, therefore, is God's orderly and ordinary 
means of a regular admittance ; and to be sought and 
used where it may be had, (as the solemnizing of mar- 
riage.) And it is a sin to neglect it wilfully, and so it is 
usually necessary, necessitate prcecepti, and necessitate 
medii ad ordinem et bene ministerii, or to the validity or 
success of our office and ministrations to the church ; nor 
in cases of necessity, when it cannot be had, is it neces- 
sary, necessitate prcecepti, neither. This is plain truth.' 

Those persons,^ adds Baxter, are orderly and duly sep- 
arated to the work of the ministry, where there is a 
separation to the ministry by mutual consent of the person 
and the flock ; and by the approbation and investiture of 
the first ecclesiastical officers that are to be had, there is 
an orderly and due separation to the ministry. But all 
this is to be found in the ordination used in England, and 

* Ibid, pp. 221, 223, 227. See similar views in Claude's Def. of the 
Ref. ii. pp. 230-235, 241. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



229 



other reformed churches, without prelates ; therefore, &c. 
This proves not only the validity of their ordination, but 
the full regularity.' 

Again * ' We have, moreover, in the ordination of the 
reformed churches, the approbation and solemn investiture 
of the fittest ecclesiastical officers that are to be had. And 
no more is requisite to an orderly admission. There being 
nothing for man to do, but to determine of the qualified 
person, and present him to God, to receive the power and 
obligation from his law; it is easy to discern, that where 
all these concur, (the people's election or consent, the de- 
termination of fit ecclesiastical officers, and the qualifica- 
tion and consent of the person himself,) there needs no- 
more to the designation of the man. Nor hath God tied 
the essence of the church or ministry to a certain formal- 
ity, or to the interest or will of prelates ; nor can any 
more ad ordlnem be required, but that a qualified person 
do enter, by the best and most orderly way that is open 
to him, in those times and places where he is. And that 
we have the fittest approvers and ordainers I prove.'! 

What then, on these principles, is our view of the min- 
istry of other denominations of christians ? * As baptism/ 
says Baxter,! ' is the open badge of a christian, so ordina- 
tion is the open badge of a minister ; and therefore, though 
a man may be a christian before God, without baptism, 
yet ordinarily he is not a christian before the church with- 
out baptism, till he have, by some equivalent profession, 
given them satisfaction ; and therefore if I knew men to 
be utterly unbaptized, I would not at first have commun- 
ion with them as christians. But if they could manifest 
to me that necessity forbad them, or if it were any mistake 
and scrapie of their consciences, that hindered them from 
the outward ordinance, and they had, without that ordi- 

* Ibid, p. 223. 

t Similar are the views of the French presbyterians, as presented by 
Claude, in his Def. of the Ref. vol. ii. pp. 230, 231, 233, 234, 241. 
% Ibid, pp. 163, 165, 166. 

20 



230 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



nance, made as public and bold a profession of Christianity, 
and satisfactorily declared themselves to be christians by 
other means, I would then own them as christians, though 
with a disowning and reprehension of their error ; even 
so would I do by a minister. I would not own him as a 
minister unordained, unless he either showed a necessity 
that was the cause, or else, (if it were his weakness and 
mistake,) did manifest by his abilities and fidelity, and the 
consent and acceptance of the church, that he were truly 
called : and if he did so, I would own him ; though with 
a disowning and reproof of his mistake, and omission of 
so great a duty.' 

' There is not a word of God to be found, that makes 
ordination of absolute necessity to the being of the minis- 
try ; therefore it is not so to be esteemed. The examples 
of scripture show it to be the regular way, and therefore 
ordinarily a duty ; but they show not that there is no other 
way.' 

' Objection. By this doctrine you will induce disorder 
into the church, if all that are able must be ministers, when 
they are denied ordination ; for then they will be judges 
of their own abilities, and every brain-sick proud opinion- 
ist, will think that there is a necessity of his preaching ; 
and so we shall have confusion, and ordination will be 
made contemptible, by pretences of necessity ! ' 

' Answer. 1. God will not have the necessities of men's 
souls neglected, nor allow us to let men go quietly to 
damnation, nor have his churches ruined, for fear of occa- 
sioning the disorders of other men. It is better that men 
be disorderly saved, than orderly damned ; and that the 
church be disorderly preserved, than orderly destroyed ! 
God will not allow us to suffer every thief and murderer 
to rob or kill our neighbors, for fear lest by defending 
them, we occasion men to neglect the magistrate. Nor 
will he allow us to let men perish in their sickness, if we 
can help them, for fear of encouraging the ignorant to turn 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



231 



physicians. 2. There is no part of God's service that can 
be used, without occasion of sin to the perverse ; Christ 
himself is the fall as well as the rising of many ; and is a 
stumbling-stone and rock of offence ; and yet not for that 
to be denied. There is no just and reasonable cause of 
men's abuse in the doctrine which I here express. 3. True 
necessity will excuse and justify the unordained before 
God, for exercising their abilities to his service. But pre- 
tended counterfeit necessity will not justify any; and the 
final judgment is at hand, when all things shall be set 
straight, and true necessity and counterfeit shall be discern- 
ed. 4. Until that day, things will be in some disorder in this 
world, because there is sin in the world, which is the dis- 
order. But our remedies are these : 1. To teach men 
their duties truly, and not to lead them into one evil to 
prevent another, much less to a mischief destructive to 
men's souls, to prevent disorder. 2. The churches have 
the power of casting the pretenders (if this case deserve 
it) out of their communion ; and in order thereto, it is not 
he but they that will be judges. And other remedies we 
have none till the last day.' 



section v. 



The objection founded upon the persecuting principles and 
conduct of presbyterians, ansivered. 

But an overwhelming argument is brought to bear 
against all these claims to superior liberality, on the 
ground that the presbyterian church has, in past days, 
cherished exclusive and persecuting principles, and man- 
ifested this spirit in her conduct ; and that some presby- 
terian bodies are still found willing to sanction these 



232 ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 

principles.* Now to the truth of both these facts, we 
grant our reluctant and most sorrowful confession. And 
while much might be said to palliate the guilt of such 
intolerance, and to show that in comparison with the 
course pursued by the papacy and the prelacy, it was fitful, 
temporary, and partial, whi'e their intolerance has been 
constant, universal, and applied to opinions as well as to 
forms; — yet we take refuge in no apology.f We make 
no excuse. We are rather willing to join in the execra- 
tion of such principles, and the condemnation of such acts, 
(so far as facts will show that they were cherished and 
carried out,) as utterly alien to the spirit of the gospel, and 
to the genius of presbyterianism. And that a jwtion of 
the Covenanters should still maintain these views, is a fact 
inexplicable for its mystery, inexcusable for its absurdity, 
and unparalleled for its anomaly. 

But what have we to do with the conduct of these 
brethren, with whom, although agreeing in most points, 
we differ in this matter toto ccdo ; with whom we have no 
ecclesiastical connection whatever ; and for whose opinions 
on this subject, ivc are no more responsible, than we are, 
as christians, for the corruptions of all those who are called 
by that name. We now advocate the claims, and present 

* Dr. How's Vind. of Prot. Ep. Ch. pp. 47, 48,374, 375. This 
charge is not seldom also brought against us by congregationalists, 
who stand in need of a common defence. But that, in former days, 
they made their views of the constitution of a church an article of 
faith, appertaining to salvation, may be seen by numerous quotations 
in Paget's Def. of Presb. Ch. Govt. p. 33. As to the lengths to which 
they then proceeded, see Bastwick's Utter Routing, &c . Epistle to the 
Reader. See also the History of their proceedings in New England, 
as given in Clarke's Hist, of Intolerance, vol. i. Pref. and in all other 
histories. Dr. Lang's Relig. and Educ. in America, p. ] 25, &c, where 
he shows, that ' Cromwell's own clergy,' accepted sequestered benefi- 
ces of the Church of England. See further, on this subject, from Mr. 
Lo rimer, on p. 232. 

This forms the whole strength of bishop Hughes's argument, in 
proof of the opposition of presbyterianism to civil and religious libeity. 
See Discussion. 

t See Dr. Binney's Dissent not Schism, p. 74, though an Inde- 
pendent, 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



233 



the sentiments, of ' the Presbyterian church' of these 
United States. For on this subject, alterations were found 
necessary, in order to adapt our standards to the views of 
our American Zion. "We challenge therefore a fair and 
impartial verdict, and are willing to compare ourselves 
with any other denomination whatsoever. We do not, for 
a moment, shrink even from a comparison of presbyterian- 
ism, in general, with prelacy, in general ; but in this case 
we would require, that the ivhole history of prelacy, as 
developed in the Romish, Anglican, and other churches 
should be considered ; and then the whole history of pres- 
bytery, as developed in the Waldenses, Paulicians, Cul- 
dees, and Scotch, Irish, and American churches should 
be brought into contrast. In such a comparison, who can 
doubt the transcendent lustre with which presbytery 
would outshine prelacy. Its most intolerant enactments 
would appear liberality itself, and its most persecuting 
doings, the forthgoings of christian charity, when brought 
into contrast with the bloody annals of councils, canons, 
decrees, crusades, test acts, acts of uniformity, Bartholo- 
mew scenes and massacres, which constitute such an 
integral portion of prelatical ecclesiastical history* Our 

* Dr. McCrie's Miscell. Wks. Rev. of the Life of Owen. See 
also presbyterians vindicated from all serious persecution, in Lori- 
mer's Manual of Presbytery, p. 230. The writer says, ' The congrega- 
tionalists, then, have nothing in point of practice of which to boast, 
over their presbyterian brethren : and in regard to their earlier holding 
sound theoretical views of toleration and religious liberty, the same 
great historical authority shows, that as correct sentiments were enter- 
tained from a much earlier date, by the reformers and first puritans, 
who were presbyterian ; that, soon after the reformation, the same 
views were common among the presbyterians of Holland and France ; 
that it was not the principles of the sectaries, but of the reformers and 
their successors, which lay, and still lie, at the foundation of British 
freedom, civil and religious ; that the writings of leading independents, 
at the period referred to, betray decided symptoms of intolerance and 
persecution ; and that it was the extravagant and most injurious pro- 
ceedings of many of the sectaries, which, by driving matters to extrem- 
ities in England, created a reaction — lost all the immense advantages 
of a sound, civil, and ecclesiastical reformation — destroyed the mon- 
arch, and recalled persecution, with its horrors, under Charles II.' 

1 Had this little work not already exceeded the limits which were 

20* 



234 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



present concern, however, is with the presbyterian church, 
as known in the standards of our American General As- 
semblies, both old and new school, as compared with the 
prelatical communion, either Romish or Protestant. The 
only proper parallel in this case, therefore, is the constitu- 
tion and principles of our own particular church, in com- 
parison with theirs, and not of all who may bear our 
name. 

Now from the extracts already presented, it must be 
manifest that there can be no greater liberality, nor any 
protest against both the spirit, principles, and practice of 
intolerance, more powerful than that delivered in the 
standards of our church. In addition to what has been 
adduced from them, let the following be considered. 
Chapter xx. of our Confession of Faith, is on ' Christian 

originally intended, it would not be difficult to vindicate the presbyte- 
rians from any serious charge of persecution, in connection with the 
signing of the ' Solemn League and Covenant,' and kindred subjects. 
It could be shown, from the testimony of such men as Henderson, 
Dickson, Cant, and Lord Loudon, that men were not forced to take the 
•covenant, or punished for refusal ; that any cases of this kind were rare 
and unauthorized ; that the league was most cordially embraced, 
without any compulsion from church or state, by the great body of the 
nation ; and that any undue influence was chiefly employed against the 
covenant. It could be shown, also, from the exhortations of the West- 
minster Assembly, and the speeches of such members as Coleman, 
Caryl, Palmer, Thorowgood, &c, that they disapproved of the propaga- 
tion of religion by force, and that it was mainly the seditious-political, 
and not the erroneous-religious, against which their exertions were 
directed, and which gave to their sentiments and proceedings the air 
of persecution. The case is correctly stated by 'the Reformed Pres- 
bytery,' in their Explanation and Defence of Terms of Communion in 
1801. ' If any otherwise peaceable and inoffensive subjects, in church 
and state, had religious scruples in their own mind, both the open doc- 
trine and uniform practice of our pious ancestors recommended all 
possible tenderness in laboring to have them removed. But, on the 
other hand, when cruel popish factions, under the fair pretence of only 
claiming a liberty to serve God in their own way, were plotting the 
utter ruin of both church and state, and seeking the overthrow of all 
laws, human and divine ; in such a case, indeed, they could not help 
thinking, that salutary restraint, and well-regulated coercion, were 
indispensably necessary. And what nation under heaven, properly 
consulting her own safety and happiness, in time of danger, would not 
find it advisable to act on the same great principle ? ' 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



235 



Liberty and Liberty of Conscience.' In this it is taught* 
' God alone is Lord of the conscience, and hath left it free 
from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are 
in any thing contrary to his word, or beside it, in matters of 
faith or worship. So that to believe such doctrines, or to 
obey such commandments, out of conscience, is to betray 
true liberty of conscience ; and the requiring an implicit 
faith, and an absolute and blind obedience, is to destroy 
liberty of conscience and reason also.' 

Again, in chapter xxiii. ' of the civil magistrate,' it is 
declared, ' civil magistrates may not assume to themselves 
the administration of the word and sacraments ; or the 
power of the keys of the kingdom of heaven ; or in the 
least interfere in matters of faith. Yet, as nursing-fathers, 
it is the duty of civil magistrates to protect the church of 
our common Lord, without giving the preference to any 
denomination of christians above the rest, in such a man- 
ner, that all ecclesiastical persons whatever shall enjoy 
the full, free, and unquestioned liberty of discharging every 
part of their sacred functions without violence or danger. 
And as Jesus Christ hath appointed a regular government 
and discipline in his church, no law of any commonwealth 
should interfere with, let, or hinder, the due exercise 
thereof, among the voluntary members of any denomina- 
tion of christians, according to their own profession and 
belief. It is the duty of civil magistrates to protect the 
person and good name of all their people, in such an 
effectual manner, as that no person be suffered, either upon 
pretence of religion or infidelity, to offer any indignity, vio- 
lence, abuse, or injury, to any other person whatsoever; 
and to take order, that all religious and ecclesiastical 
assemblies be held without molestation or disturbance.' 

' It is the duty of the people to pray for magistrates, to 
honor their persons, to pay them tribute and other dues, 



* § 2, p. 109. 



236 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



to obey their lawful commands, and to be subject to their 
authority, for conscience' sake. Infidelity or indifference 
in religion, doth not make void the magistrate's just and 
legal authority, nor free the people from their due obe- 
dience to him ; from which ecclesiastical persons are not 
exempted; much less hath the pope any power or juris- 
diction over them in their dominions, or over any of their 
people ; and least of all, to deprive them of their dominions 
or lives, if he shall judge them to be heretics, or upon any 
other pretence whatsoever.' 

So also in Form of Government, chapter i. section 1, 
as quoted above, # and in chapter viii. section 2, where, 
speaking of all our ecclesiastical courts, it teaches, ' These 
assemblies ought not to possess any civil jurisdiction, nor 
to inflict any civil penalties. Their power is wholly moral 
or spiritual, and that only ministerial and declarative.' 

To this let me add the following extracts from ' An 
Ecclesiastical Catechism of the Presbyterian Church,' by 
the author, which has been approved by various portions of 
our church, and by some of its leading divines. t In chapter 
v. section 1, ' Of the nature of church power,' it is asked, 
' Is the power which church officers possess, such as to 
affect the civil interests of men ? ' 

' No ; it is altogether ecclesiastical ; and such as to affect 
men only in their relation to the church, and to God.' 

' How else may you describe this power of the church ? 
It is spiritual, and addressed to the consciences of those 
who are subject to it.' 

' Have church officers any power or authority, even in 
ecclesiastical matters, independently, or in themselves 
considered ? None whatever — they act altogether min- 
isterially.' 

' Do presbyterians, in our country, ascribe any power to 
the church, which interferes with the authorities of the 

* Seep. 218. 

t A third edition has been called for. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



237 



state ? No ; presbyterians maintain, that the church is 
independent of the state, and distinct from it, in its laws, 
its administrations, and its objects ; and that it is governed 
by its own laws, which are purely spiritual.' 

1 Do presbyterians in onr country, desire, then, any alli- 
ance between their church and the state ? On the con- 
trary, they believe, that any such alliance ever has been, 
and ever will be, equally injurious to the state and to the 
church ; and that it is to be deprecated by every christian, 
as the baneful source of corruption and intolerance.'* 

Let any man candidly study these passages, in connec- 
tion with the constitution of this freest and most liberal of 
all governments, and will he not say that they are, in spirit, 
perfectly the same, and that, in the principles delivered in 

* The only portions of our standards, besides the doctrines of elec- 
tion and predestination, which bishop Hughes could pervert to a sense 
opposite to civil and religious liberty, is the explanation given of the 
Second Commandment, (Breckinridge and Hughes's Discussion, pp. 
318, 344,372,) which, among other things, is said to require '-the dis- 
approving, detesting, opposing, all false worship ; and, according to each 
one's place and calling, removing it, and all monuments of idolatry.'' ' If I 
understand the reasoning,' says Dr. Breckinridge, 'he means to charge 
us with holding, that force of some kind is a duty ; or that some method 
of removing the monuments of idolatry J at war with the rights of others, 
is expressed. For I suppose he will not say, that if we oppose false 
worship, and remove these monuments of idolatry, in a constitutional 
way, and without disturbing the rights of others, this would be wrong, 
or against liberty, civil or religious. ' ' He will not say that it is per- 
secution, to oppose idolatry by discussion, moral influence, and prayer. 
The question then is, as to the manner of doing it. Does our doctrine 
utter or imply tyranny, or force, or a hindrance to the free exercise 
of religious worship ? If so, we should like to know it. So far is this 
from being the fact, that he has himself owned, ' that the Confession of 
Faith ivas amended, (at the adoption of the American Constitution,) 
to suit the constitution and the new order of things. 11 What he thus admits 
(as ' an amendment,'') to be true, may be easily shown, by reference to 
all those parts of our standards, which relate to the freedom of wor- 
ship, and the use of force, by the civil magistrate, in matters of con- 
science. 

' Yet it is not said of our particular church, but of all christian 
denominations, that the civil magistrate should protect them. Reli- 
gion is one of our common rights — and a civil right to be protected in 
it. But Mr. Hughes replies, this ' excludes us idolaters.'' No. We say 
'all religious and ecclesiastical assemblies,' are to be 'protected, 1 though 
it be an antichristian system. But shall we, for this reason, be silent 
about their errors 1 May we not use the liberty of speech ? ' 



238 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



these standards, our puritan fathers found the germs, the 
elements, of that perfect civil and religious liberty, which 
every citizen of this great republic equally enjoys. Real 
liberality cannot possibly coexist with any system which 
does not recognise the principle, that individual conviction 
is the only worthy basis of true faith, and the consequent 
right and duty of private judgment. In this doctrine, the 
very essence of real liberality, both political and religious, 
is involved. It is when this principle is received as an 
axiomatic truth, that the exercise of such liberality is not, 
(as it is too often represented,) of the nature of a lenient 
indulgence, or a benevolent concession, but stands forth, not 
on the ground of concession, but of principle, — not of 
indulgence, but of right, — not of favor, but of justice, — 
not of compromise, but of steadfast maintenance of the 
truth, — each upholding what he believes right, without 
denouncing the other as wrong; all uniting for objects in 
which they agree, without compromising one point in 
which they differ.* 

Now, as interpreted in our standards, Christianity sanc- 
tions and does not destroy this freedom ; elevates and does 
not dethrone reason ; encourages and does not fetter in- 
quiry ; secures and does not withhold liberty of conscience ; 
since it enforces only a voluntary subjection to its require- 
ments. It is the doctrine of Bossuet, and the church to 
which he belongs, and not the doctrine of the presbyterian 
church, that ' all attachment to private judgment is heresy, 
it being the property of a heretic to have a particular 
opinion.'! And as this doctrine has been shown to lie at 
the very foundation of American republicanism, % in con- 
nection with the entire severance of politics and religion, 
of civil and religious matters, the absurdity of the charge 

* Prof. Powell, of Oxf. on State Educ. Lond. 1840, pp. 81, 82. 
t Variations of Prot. vol. i. p. 17. 
% Tocqueville's Democ. in Am. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



239 



of any connivance at intolerance, as made against our 
church, is as great as if alleged against the Constitution 
of the United States itself. 



SECTION VI. 

The presbyterian church is at once liberal and orthodox. 

The presbyterian church does not found her claims to 
the character of liberality upon an indiscriminate approval 
of all doctrinal opinions, or to the Erastian destruction of 
all ecclesiastical government and ministerial authority as 
of divine appointment. She firmly holds, as an article 
of faith, to the doctrine of one, holy, catholic, and apos- 
tolic church, out of which there is no ordinary possibility 
of salvation; but her liberality is seen in making this, 
and not the presbyterian church, the church ; in making 
this catholic church coextensive with the elect children 
of God, that is with all, in every place, age, nation, or de- 
nomination, who are made partakers of the grace that is 
in Christ Jesus ; in representing it as requiring, for the 
participation of all its privileges, only the belief of those 
essential principles, in knowledge of which standeth 
eternal life ; and as embracing, in her visible form, all who 
even profess the true religion, together with their children. 
The presbyterian church believes also in the divine ap- 
pointment of the christian ministry, and in its uninter- 
rupted succession, from the apostles' time until now, 
and that ministers are the instruments by whom God 
works in the salvation of men ; her liberality is seen in 
holding up these pastors, not as legislators, but only as 
ministers of Christ, and for his people ; in not substitu- 
ting them in the place of God as the sources of grace and 



240 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



blessing; in subjecting thsm, as much as their people, to 
the Bible, as the common standard of faith ; and in 
appealing to the conscience and private judgment of all 
her members. The presbyterian church believes in the 
necessity of government and order, and has confidence 
in the wisdom, utility, and scripturality of her own polity ; 
her liberality is seen in not making these essential to the 
being, but only to the well-being of the church; in not 
claiming for any of its details exclusive divine authority 
or right ; in assuming power to determine nothing more 
than those rules and orders of the church, which are in 
themselves either indifferent or necessary to the accom- 
plishment of required duty, and which are undetermined 
in the word of God ; in not enforcing these, as necessary 
in themselves considered, but as binding only upon those 
who can voluntarily and conscientiously receive them, 
and who can, therefore, unite with her ; and in not ex- 
communicating or unchurching other denominations, 
because they adopt different rules, forms, and orders * 

* That this is the view taken by the church of Scotland, appears 
from the following extract, taken from the speeches delivered on the 
commemoration of the assembly of 1638, p. 37. (See quoted and de- 
fended by Mr. Candlish, in his letter to the Dean of Faculty, Edinb. 
1839.) ' I cannot enter fully on an argument like this, which would 
require to be discussed at great length. I may simply refer to the 
general principles which we hold to be established, by the authority 
and example of the apostles, as their practice may be gathered from 
the brief hints and notices given in the New Testament, regarding 
the churches which they formed. The system which they adopted, 
is not in any part of the inspired record fully unfolded — and perhaps 
it was not always uniform. But certain leading features may be 
traced throughout. Thus, the institution of deacons, charged with 
the care of the poor and the temporal concerns of the church, is 
placed beyond question, by the fact recorded in the sixth chapter of 
the Acts. Then, in addition to this office of a secular character, we 
find repeated mention made of another order of office-bearers in all 
the churches, called ' presbyters,' or ' elders,' as being men of grave 
authority; 'bishops,' or ' overseers,' as having the spirtual oversight 
of the flock, and described as having rule oyer the christian people, 
and watching for souls as those who must give account. And the 
only distinction which we can recognise in this last class, is between 
the elders or presbyters, who merely ' rule,' and those who, besides 
ruling, 'labor in word and doctrine,' (1 Tim. 1 : 17, ) a distinction 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



She regards the Catholic church as ' a great man's house, 
' in which are many mansions,' which our heavenly 
Father has well furnished and prepared for all his chil- 
dren. She addresses, therefore, to all a common welcome, 
saying, come in ye blessed of the Father, and partake with 
us in all the blessings of His hospitable mansion, and His 
well-provisioned table. Ye who bear upon you the impress 
of a divine acceptance, who are clad in the spiritual 
vestments of a divine calling, who speak the language 
of heaven's adopted sons, however men may reject, 
scorn, or denounce you, come in, and let us, as brethren, 
dwell together in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of 
the Spirit in the bonds of peace, as having one Lord, one 
faith, and one hope. 

which seems to lay a foundation for the difference which we make 
between the ruling elder and the teaching elder or pastor, as holding 
separate offices, or rather separate branches of the same office. Be- 
yond this simple order, we can discover nothing in Holy Scripture, 
regarding the early government of the christian society, excepting 
only the extraordinary powers exercised by the apostles themselves, 
and by evangelists specially commissioned by them, not as settled 
superintendents of particular dioceses, but as agents employed 
at large in forming and organizing new churches in all differ 
ent parts of the world. But in this simple order, we have 
full warrant for the ordinance of a standing ministry, author- 
ized by Christ himself, to rule his people, and to confer their 
own office on others, by solemn imposition of hands. We consider 
also that the New Testament gives evidence of a union between dif- 
ferent churches and their office-bearers, and a control vested in 
councils of these office-bearers, over particular churches and their 
members. Thus we maintain, in the words of the illustrious McCrie, 
that the leading principles of presbytery rest on the authority of God, 
and that its subordinate arrangements are supported by the general 
rules of Scripture. They are simple, and well calculated to preserve 
order, and promote edification, equally opposed to arbitrary and lordly 
domination on the part of the clergy, and to popular confusion and 
misrule ; establishing an efficient discipline in every congregation, 
and preserving that unity which ought to subsist among the different 
branches of the church of Christ.'-— Commemoration Speeches, p. 37. 



21 



242 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM, 



SECTION VII. 

Testimonies in proof of the liberality of presbytery. 

In substantiation of these views, deduced from the 
standards of the presbyterian church, we might add the 
testimony of eminent divines, of every period of its his- 
tory, and in various branches of the presbyterian body. 
A few out of the many examples which are at hand, it 
may be well to present. 

The Waldenses, in their Confession of 1508, after 
defining the Catholic church, say : # ' But in regard to 
their own congregation, they thus conceive and teach, that 
that congregation, as other congregations, be they great 
or small, is not the holy universal church, but only a part 
and member thereof, as the Corinthians were, of whom 
the apostle speaks, 1 Corinthians, 12.' 

As to the reformers, let Du Moulin speak for himself 
and them. ' I know that under pretence, that the church 
of England hath another form of discipline than ours is ■ — 
(our adversaries, the papists,) charge us that our religion 
is diverse. But experience confuteth this accusation.' 
Indeed, so liberal were the views of our reformers, that 
many of those who were most devoted to the establish- 
ment of presbytery, are nevertheless, by an ungenerous 
perversion of their fraternal and kind expressions, in speak- 
ing of the English church, constantly held up as favora- 
ble to prelacy.! 

* Blair's Waldenses, vol. ii. p. 575. 

tSee these views fully presented in Lect. on Apost. Succ. Lect. iii. 
p. 63, Lect. xvi. and pp. 525, 526. Harmony of Confessions of the 
Ref. Ch. and the Preface, Lond. 1643. Blondel's Declar.de la Sincerit. 
deseglises Ref. de France Sedan, 1619. Nubes Testium. promoderato 
et pacifico de rebus theologicis et instituenda inter Protestantes con- 
cordia, by Joh. Alph. Turretine, Leipsic, 1720, 4to. Lond. Chr. Obs. 
Feb. 1839, p. 119. Edinb. Presb. Rev. April, 1839, p. 639. Schism 
by Dr. Hoppus, pp. 463, 485-491. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



243 



Knox showed his moderation by officiating to a congre- 
gation of episcopalian English exiles at Frankfort ; among 
whom a modified form of divine worship was agreed on 
— some things being taken from the liturgy of the church 
of England, others from the practice of Geneva. # 

' We do, upon good reason,' said Alexander Henderson, 
the rebuilder of the church of Scotland, in her second re- 
formation, 'judge the church of England, in the midst of 
her ceremonies, to have been a true church ; and the min- 
istry thereof, notwithstanding the many blemishes and cor- 
ruptions cleaving unto it, to have been a true ministry ; 
and we shall never deny unto them that praise, whether 
in debating controversies with papists, or in practical di- 
vinity for private christians, which they do most justly de- 
serve. Upon the other part, we are neither so ignorant, 
nor so arrogant, as to ascribe to the church of Scotland 
such absolute purity and perfection as hath not need, or 
cannot admit, of further reformation.'! 

' When they troubled us but with ceremonies,' adds 
Baillie, ' the world knows we went in with them as far 
as our duty to God or man could require ; but while they 
would have us, against standing laws, to receive armin- 
ianism and popery, and all they please, shall we not bear 
them witness to their opposition to the truth, though we 
should die for it, and preach the truth of God, wherein we 
have been brought up, against all who will gainsay ?'$ 

' I never said nor thought,' said the martyred Ren wick, 
to bishop Paterson,$ ' that none could be saved except 

* McCrie's Life of, Period iv. 

t Life and Times, by Dr. Aiton, p. 13. Dr. Muir's Disc, at Com- 
memor. of the Genl. Ass. of 1638. Glasg. 1838, p. 22. On the liberal 
conduct of the early Scottish church, see Lectures on the Headship 
of Christ, Glasg. 1840, pp. 80, 81. See her remarkable liberality in the 
case of archbishop Bancroft's discourse and conduct. McCrie's 
Life of Melville, vol. i. pp. 385- 390. McCrie on the Unity of the 
Church, pp. 14, 15. 

X Ibid. 

\ Hist, of the Covenanters, vol. ii. p. 321. 



244 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



they were of those principles ; but these are truths which 
I suffer for, and whichl have not rashly concluded on, but 
deliberately, and of a long time have been confirmed, that 
they are sufficient points to suffer for.' 

The Provincial council of London, in their work on the 
divine right of the Gospel Ministry, published in the year 
1654, show the same spirit in their preface, to the reader. 
They here enumerate, among those with whom they desire 
union and harmony, ' the moderate, godly episcopal men, 
that hold ordination by presbyters to be lawful and valid ; 
that a bishop and a presbyter are one and the same order of 
ministry, that are orthodox in doctrinal truths, and yet hold 
that the government of the church by a perpetual mode- 
rator is most agreeable to scripture pattern. Though here- 
in we differ from them, yet we are far from thinking that 
this difference should hinder a happy union between them 
and us. Nay, we crave leave to profess to the world } 
that it will never, (as we humbly conceive,) be well with 
England till there be a union endeavored and effected be- 
tween those that are orthodox in doctrine, though dif- 
fering among themselves in some circumstances about 
church government.'^" 

In the Character of an Old English Puritan, written by 
the Rev. John Geree, and published in 1646, it is said, 
'right discipline he judged pertaining not to the being 
but to the well-being of the church. Therefore he es- 
teemed those churches most pure, where the government 
is by elders, yet unchurched not those where it was other- 
wise.'! 

So also in 1 A Model of Church Government,' &c. ' by 
John Drury, one of the assembly of Divines,' it is said, 

* Page 4. See also Pt. ii. pp. 20, 22, 23, (a defence of the character of 
the ministers of the English church,) 25, 27, 29, 30, 31, 38. See also their 
Div. Right of Ch. Govt. pp. 120, 121, and Firmin's Separation Exam- 
ined, addressed to them, p 107. Also Corbet's Remains, p. 32, &c. 

t London, p. 4. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



245 



' First, then, I think myself bound to declare this : that I 
am under a vow to prosecute, upon all occasions, as long 
as I live, the ways of evangelical reconciliation amongst 
protestants ; that is to say, professedly to seek, and up- 
on all occasions offered to advance, amongst those that 
have received the holy scriptures for their rule, and keep 
to the fundamentals of faith and practice, the means of 
spiritual unity, of peace and of love, by the manifestation 
of the truth, and in the duties of holy communion. Hav- 
ing, therefore, this opportunity fairly offered, I am obliged, 
in minding my vow, to discharge a good conscience ; and 
for the love which I owe unto the gospel of peace, to the 
whole church of God, and to the prosperity and flourish- 
ing condition thereof in this nation, to make some over- 
tures, which I hope shall give no matter of grievance un- 
to any, but will prove edifying unto all ; at least my aim 
shall be none other, but to stir up thy pure mind, (christian 
reader,) to the thoughts of brotherly kindness, of meekness, 
and of peace, to the end that some ways may be taken 
up, which will help to reconcile the affections of many di- 
vided about circumstantials ; to preserve and keep entire 
the unity which remains about fundamentals ; and to pre- 
vent or cure the manifold misprisions, which increase our 
confusions, and obstruct the remedies of our diseases.'* 

We might refer to Baxter's works throughout. We 
will only extract one or two passages in his ' Disputations 
of Church Government,' written when the presbyterian 
party were in power. f In the preface he says, ' I know 

* Lond. 1647, 4 to. Preface. The assembly of Divines split on the 
subject of toleration, many members advocating liberal views. See 
Wilson's Historical Inquiry concerning the English Presbyterians, pp. 
3, 4, 5, 20, 23. That they were willing to accommodate with the Epis- 
copalians, see ibid, p. 144. 147, 153, 171. See also their noble liberali- 
ty, when they could have retaliated, in Neal's Puritans, vol. v. pp. 16, 
17, 23, and vol. iv. pp. 391, 418, and vol. v. pp. 33, 36, 37, 41, 58. 

t Lond. 1659. Pref. p. 19. See also Neal, vol. iv. pp. 226 and 231, 
for similar sentiments under similar circumstances. 

21* 



246 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



also that the casting out of the ministers of your way, is 
much that ofFendeth you : concerning which I shall only 
say, that I meet with none, or very few, that profess not 
their willingness that all men of your mind, that truly fear 
God, and are able and diligent, should be kept in. And 
if you be angry for the casting out of the ignorant, insuffi- 
cient, negligent or scandalous, there is no remedy. But be 
ashamed to reproach us for casting out such from the ser- 
vice of Christ, as Julian the apostate would have cast out 
from the priesthood of his idols : and let us crave your 
leave to expect as much devotion in the servants of Christ, 
as he expected in his enemies.' 

Still more remarkable are the following words from his 
own Life. # ' My censures of the papists do much differ 
from what they were at first. I then thought that their 
errors in the doctrines of faith were their most dangerous 
mistakes. But now I am assured that their mis -express- 
ions and misunderstanding us, with our mistakings of them 
and inconvenient expressing of own opinions, have made 
the difference in most points appear much greater than it 
is ; and that in some it is next to none at all. But the 
great and unreconcilable differences lie in their church 
tyranny ; in the usurpations of their hierarchy, and priest- 
hood, under the name of spiritual authority, exercising a 
temporal lordship ; in their corruptions and abasement of 
God's worship ; but, above all, in their systematic befriend- 
ing of ignorance and vice.' 

' At first I thought that Mr. Perkins well proved that 
a papist cannot go beyond a reprobate ; but now I doubt 
not that God hath many sanctified ones among them ; 
who have received the true doctrine of Christianity so 
practically, that their contradictory errors prevail not 
against them, to hinder their love of God, and their sal- 
vation : but that their errors are like a conquerable dose 



* Part i. p. 131. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



247 



of poison, which a healthful nature doth overcome. And 
I can never believe that a man may not be saved by that re- 
ligion, which doth but bring him to the true love of God and 
to a heavenly mind and life ; nor that God will ever cast a soul 
into hell that truly loveth him. Also at first it would dis- 
grace any doctrine with me, if I did but hear it called po- 
pery and antichristian ; but I have long learned to be 
more impartial, and to know that Satan can use even the 
names of popery and antichrist, to bring a truth into sus- 
picion and discredit.'" 

To this might be added the testimony of one who suffer- 
ed from the tyranny of prelates as much as any other. 
We refer to Bastwick, in his ' Utter Routing,' &c. ; but as 
the passage is long, we can only refer to it. # 

' I do likewise abhor,' says Mathew Henry, ' all schis- 
matical, that is, uncharitable, proud, censorious, rigid sep- 
aration, such separation as theirs who condemn the parish 
churches as no parts of the visible church, who rail at min- 
isters as babylonish and antichristian; this is a horrid 
breach of the law of christian love, and that which every 
good heart cannot but rise at the thoughts off 

How many pages might we fill from the sainted Howe4 
In his deepest sufferings at the hands of the prelates, he 
declares that one of his chief consolations in suffering was, 
the ' consciousness that he had no other than kind or be- 
nign thoughts towards those whom he has suffered by ; 
and that his heart tells him he desires not the least 
hurt to those that would do him the greatest ; that he feels 
within himself an unfeigned love and high estimation of 
divers of them, accounting them pious, worthy persons, 

* The title of this really learned defence of preshyterianism, is one of 
the most remarkable among the many that are so. It is a 4to. of pp. 
662. Lond. 1646. See at pp. 567 - 570. 

t Brief Inq. into the Nature of Schism, Lond. 1717, p. 24. See al- 
so his Wks. p. 1137, col. 1. 

% See his Life, by Rodgers, p. 323. Lond. 1836. See also at pp. 288, 
312, 333, 358, 366. 



248 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



and hoping to meet them in the all-reconciling world.' 
The all-reconciling world ! How beautiful is that expres- 
sion ! 

' We do sincerely profess,' he adds, ' wherein we de- 
cline the communion he invites us to ; we only displease 
him and those of his way and mind, out of a real fear of 
otherwise displeasing God. We agree with them in far 
greater things than we can differ in. We are of that one 
body which they themselves profess to be of, so far as 
mere Christianity is the distinction and collective bond of 
it, and desire to be under the conduct and government of 
that one spirit. We are called with them in that one hope 
of our calling, and earnestly expect, (whatever hard 
thoughts they have of us,) to meet many a one of them 
in the participation of the blessed hoped end of that call- 
ing. We acknowledge that one Lord, that one faith, that 
one baptism, (or covenant which the baptism of our Lord's 
appointment seals,) and that one God and Father of all, 
who is above all, and through all, and in us all. Yet be- 
cause we cannot, we dare not consent with them to the 
additions which belong not (and which we fear are undu- 
ly affixed) to the religion of Christianity.' 

Such also were the liberal sentiments of the oppo- 
nents of prelacy in New England. Thus Mr. Welles, in 
his Vindication of Presbyterian Ordination, in answer to 
Mr Learning, says, ' We, on the other hand, from the 
same testimonies, believe infant baptism, and the first 
day sabbath. We accordingly practice them. But then, 
' we have not so learned Christ,' as to think it our duty, 
either by our principles or practice, to unchurch and un- 
christianize all who differ from us in these points : but, if 
they are otherwise qualified, cheerfully admit their min- 
isters into our pulpits, and their members to communion, 
in gospel ordinances.'^ 



* New Haven, 1767, pp. 5, 19. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



249 



Dr. Chandler, in his plea for the establishment of an 
American episcopate, and against which there existed 
such irresistible prejudices, thus speaks of ' the dissent- 
ers.'* ' Whatever notions the dissenters in this country 
may have formerly entertained concerning the church, yet 
of late years they have greatly come off from their preju- 
dices ; and sentiments of candor, charity, and moderation 
have visibly taken place. And as to dissenters of other 
denominations, the subject has been proposed to some of 
the most sensible of them, who have, with great candor, 
confessed, that as such an episcopate as has been request- 
ed could have no ill effect upon any, they had no objec- 
tions to offer. Nay, some have even been so generous, as 
to endeavor to undeceive their more ignorant and illiberal 
brethren, if the author of these papers has not been mis- 
informed.' 

As it regards the present views and sentiments of the 
presbyterian church in this country, in Scotland, and in 
Ireland, it is unnecessary to produce any testimonies be- 
yond what have been offered.! The following remarks, 
by Dr. Candlish, will at once, however, serve as evidence 
of the truth of our position, and an illustration of the 
true grounds upon which our liberality is based. $ After 
expressing his profound respect for the church of Eng- 
land, he says, ' And in entire consistency with these 
more than friendly sentiments, I hold the divine right of 
presbytery, and I believe that the system of episcopacy 
is unscriptural, while the line of argument by which it is 
defended seems to me to lead naturally to the establish- 

* App. for the Ch. of Eng. in Am. p. 88, and again, pp. 90 and 93. 

t As it regards this country, see Dr. Rodgers's Life, p. 328. Dr. 
Rice, as quoted. Dr. Miller on the Min. 2d ed. 8vo. p. viii. x. xlviii. 
pp. 219, 231, 247-258. Dr. Mason's Catholic Commun. and Works, 
vol. iii. pp. 30, 31. As it regards President Davies, see Bib. Repert. 
1840, pp. 190, 191, 201, 204. Dr. McLeod's Eccl. Catech. p. 115. Bib. 
Repert. 1836, p. 34. 

t Remarks on the Dean of Faculty's Letter, Edinb. 1839, pp. 16, 17. 



250 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



ment of the authority of a pope. I am aware, that 
some of those who have avowed their conviction, that 
' the presbyterian form is founded on the word of God, 
and agreeable thereto,' understand this as meaning 
nothing more, than that the word of God is as much in 
favor of presbyterianism as of any other model — perhaps, 
on the whole, rather more so. They consider that the 
Scripture says nothing very definite on the subject, and 
famishes no means of ascertaining very positively, what 
kind of government the Great Head of the church in- 
tended to institute. They say, therefore, of presbytery, 
as they would almost equally say of episcopacy, or of in- 
dependency, that ' it is founded on the word of God, and 
agreeable thereto,' because they think that the word of 
God affords room for very considerable latitude, and that 
the hints and directions which it contains, are so general 
as to admit of several different schemes being viewed as 
almost equally in accordance with the divine will. I do 
not quarrel with this explanation of our ordination for- 
mula, in those who conscientiously adopt it. But for 
myself, I take it somewhat more strictly. According to 
my view of it, it implies, that the word of God has laid a 
foundation for a certain form of government in the 
church, and that presbytery is exclusively that form. I 
believe that the New Testament does contain sufficient 
elements for a determination of the question, — what is 
the mind of God in this matter? that it was not the de- 
sign of our Lord and his apostles to leave it altogether 
loose : that there is enough to guide one who can use his 
reason in interpreting Scripture, to a knowledge of what 
they meant to establish and to sanction. Entertaining 
these opinions, I cannot regard the distinction between 
different forms of church government as one of little im- 
portance. I love the church of England, but I condemn 
her episcopacy.' 

' Let me try to enlighten the Dean of Faculty on this 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



dark mystery of toleration. It is quite true, that the intro - 
duction of the element of divine authority, in support of 
any religious truth, or any ecclesiastical arrangement, 
necessarily involves uncompromising hostility to what- 
ever is opposed to it. But there are two antagonist prin- 
ciples which prevent that hostility from becoming intol- 
erance. The one is the principle which leads enlightened 
christians to make a distinction between the merits of an 
opinion or system, and those of the individuals who hold 
it. The other lies in the distinction made between truths 
held to be essential, and those admitted to be of less vital 
importance. The first principle allows us to recognise as 
christians, many individual members of a church, which 
we denounce as itself antichristian. The second admits 
of our recognising churches as christian, even although 
in some features of their constitution, we regard them as 
anti-scriptural. These principles of toleration and lib- 
erality, which are distinct from the general obligation of 
christian charity, towards the persons of such as differ 
from us, and which are directly opposed to the spurious 
latitudinarian charity of indulgence towards their errors, 
maintain, amid all its schisms, the unity of the body of 
Christ. According to the first principle, protestants, who 
hold the church of Rome to be Babylon, may cherish the 
hope that not a few in its communion are their brethren 
in Christ ; and Puseyites, who hold the church of Scot- 
land to be no church at all, and who call her Samaria, 
may admit that some presbyterians may be saved. Ac- 
cording to the second principle, we who view episcopacy 
as an anti-scriptural error, yet satisfied that it may not be 
an error in essentials, cordially embrace the church of 
England, as a true church of the living God, having a 
sound faith, and a scriptural administration of sacraments. 

' I have not time to illustrate these principles. But I 
think that they deserve the consideration of those who 
may be carried away by the outcry about intolerance, and 



2-52 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



especially by the elaborate parallel drawn, between the 
views held by some of us, in regard to the divine au- 
thority of the presbyterial form of government, and the 
doctrines of the Oxford divines in regard to apostolical 
succession. It should have been known, that there is 
the widest difference of opinion between us and them, as 
to the real nature and essential conditions of a christian 
church, and that this difference makes the attempt to 
confound our sentiments altogether unreasonable and 
unfair. It is not their appeal to scriptural authority on 
behalf of their doctrine, but it is the doctrine itself, which 
compels them to exclude from the pale of the christian 
church all presbyterian communities.'* 

Never was a more glorious testimony borne to the 
advancing spirit of true catholic liberality, than by the 
general assembly of the church of Scotland in 1642, in 
cancelling the schismatical act of 1799, whereby she re- 
cognises the church as one body, though called by many 
names, and scattered over many regions of the earth, and 
opens her pulpits to ministers of other denominations ; 
in receiving deputations from England, Ireland, America, 
Prussia, and Switzerland ; in opening up correspondence 
with all those churches who hold the Head ; in memorial- 
izing all christians to unite in a concert of prayer ; and in 
taking measures for the union of all evangelical denom- 
inations in some fraternal league.! 

If, then, we would say in conclusion, to every member 
of the presbyterian church,! if any man ask you what 

* See similar views in Dr. Chalmers's Lect. on Establishments, Svo. 
Eng. ed. pp. 150-185. and Letter to the Dean of Faculty, p. 101. An- 
derson's Def. of Presb. pp. 347. &c. and 379. Edward living's Ser- 
mons, vol. ii. p. 234. Alitchell's Letters to Bishop Skinner, pp. 7, 85. 
Manual of Presbytery, by Mr. Lorimer. Edinb. 1542, p. 165. 

t See the Presb. Rev." Edinb. July. 1842. and Proceed, of General 
Assembly, p. 4, &c. Also the Plan for Observing the Bi- Centen- 
ary of the "Westminster Assemblv, by the Commission, on Nov. 16th, 
1842. 

\ See Baxter's Works, vol. xvi. pp. 327, 328. Disput. on Ch. Govt, 
pp. 240-252. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 253 

church you are of, tell him, that you are of that particular 
church where you dwell ; but for the catholic church you 
know but one, and that you are of. Thrust not your- 
selves into a corner of the church, and there stand quar- 
relling against the rest ; make not sectaries of yourselves 
by appropriating Christ, and the church, and salvation, to 
your party ; abhor the very thoughts and name of any 
universal church of Christ, which is of narrower extent 
than Christianity, and containeth fewer than all true 
christians, and is pretended to be confined to a sect. It 
is not the papists that are the catholic church, nor is it 
the Greeks, no, nor the protestants, much less the new 
prelates alone ; but it is ail christians through the world, 
of whom the protestants are the soundest part, but not 
the whole. Again, consider what a lamentable case it is, 
that so great a part of the church do seem to be at a loss 
about the church, as if they knew not where it is. That 
they run up and down the house of Cod, complaining 
that they cannot find the house, and know not which 
room it is that is the house. But in the house of God are 
many rooms and mansions ; one for Greeks, and one for 
Ethiopians, one for Armenians, and Georgians, and Syri- 
ans ; one for many that are called papists ; one for Lu- 
therans and Arminians ; one for Anabaptists, and one for 
many that are truly guilty of schism and separation from 
particular churches ; there is room for Episcopalians, Pres- 
byterians, Independents, and Erastians ; there is room for 
Augustiuians, called Jansenists, and room for Calvinists ; 
but yet no room for any but christians and catholics. 
Alas, that after so many warnings in plainest words of 
Scripture, and the history of so many ages, so many 
christians should yet be so carnal, as to be saying, I am 
of Paul, and I am of Apollos, and I of Cephas, that is, 
Peter ; yea, that after Cephas is here named as a party, 
the papists should be so wilfully blind as still to make 
him the head of a party ! That one is for Rome, and 
22 



254 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



another for Constantinople, and another for Alexandria ! 
When that Augustine hath so long ago decided this point 
against the Donatists, and told them which is the catholic 
church, even that which begun at Jerusalem, and is ex- 
tended over the world, wherever there be christians. 
Alas, that still men are so stupid in their divisions, as to 
be crying out, ' here is Christ, and there is Christ ; here 
is the church, and there is the church ; we are the church, 
and you are none of it ;' when the body of Christ and its 
unity is so frequently and plainly described in the Scrip- 
ture. I know that none are members of the church that 
deny any essential point of Christianity ; but I know that 
many other mistaken parties are. Consider what an un- 
charitable, dangerous thing it is to give Christ's spouse a 
bill of divorce ; or cast his children out of his family. 
And in the name of God take heed whilst you live, first, 
that you never confine the church to a sect or party; 
secondly, nor ever cast out the least true christians, 
seeing Christ will never cast them out.' 



SECTION VIII. 

The illiberal character of Romish and Anglican prelacy. 

But to all this, how contrary is the spirit of prelacy. 
The intolerance which is necessarily connected with the 
prelatic or high-church system, we have already demon- 
stated from their own recent and standard works, and 
from their own practical exemplifications of its prin- 
ciples* The whole system is essentially bigoted and 
illiberal in every thing that respects mere external forms, 
while latitudinarian in all that relates to the essential doc- 

* See Lect. on the Apost. Succ. pp. 171, 318, 319, 324, 325, 326, 342, 
344, 469, 470. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



255 



trines of the gospel. Prelacy shows its claim to liberality 
and comprehensiveness, by ' receiving within its pale all 
varieties of opinions/ and teaching, that ■ agreement of 
opinion, even in some of the cardinal doctrines of 
Christianity, is not essential to harmony of feeling, to 
christian fellowship, and general union.'* Thus does it 
prove, that in its view conformity and external union is 
of more importance than Christianity itself, and that obe- 
dience is the sum and substance of the gospel. Changing 
the being of religion into superstition, and becoming more 
and more earthly and servile, it is in a fair way to realize 
the picture drawn by Coleridge :f ' as more and more 
estranged from the one in all, it goes wandering at length 
with its pack of amulets, bead-rolls, periapts, fetisches, 
and the like pedlery, on pilgrimages to Loretto, Mecca, 
or the temple of Juggernaut, arm in arm with sensuality 
on one side, and self-torture on the other, followed by a 
motley group of friars, pardoners, faquirs, gamesters, 
flagellants, mountebanks, and harlots.' ' Thus, under the 
mask of indifference,' says Lord Brooke, ' prelacy hath 
brought in most abominable superstitions, and most intol- 
erable slavery on the persons, liberties, bodies and souls 
of men. For they have pressed consciences, even unto 
gasping; yea, and would not be satisfied, though they 
daily heard the sighs and groans of those bleeding hearts, 
which themselves had stabbed with the poisoned sword 
of Church-Indifference. '$ 

Prelatists are now mad after their plan of ' catholic 
reunion' among the divided portions of Christ's church. 
And what is this plan ? Let one of themselves answer. $ 
This plan, 'which forms the secret mainspring of the 

* Oxf. Tracts, vol. i. p. 428. Colton's^Reasons for Preferring Epis- 
copacy, p. 45, &c. 
t Church and State, &c. Lond. 1839, p. 261. 
X Disc, of Episcopacy, Lond. 1642, p. 60. 
§ The Churchman's Monthly Review, Jan. 1842, p. 12. 



256 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



Tractarian School, is based on two fundamental maxims, 
which (as lucics a non lucendo) they are pleased to term 
'catholic principles.' The first is, the absolute necessity 
to the very being of a church, of a threefold order in a 
visible priesthood, derived by an unbroken episcopal 
succession from the apostles. The second is, the duty 
of entirely renouncing the exercise of private judgment, 
and of submitting, with implicit deference, to the decrees 
of general councils. In these two maxims, which prac- 
tically replace, in their system, the two tables of the law, 
they place the very essence of the christian church. 
The church of Rome, therefore, the Eastern or Greek, 
the Anglican and the Anglo-American, are true churches, 
have the entail of the covenant, and their reunion is to 
be sought by all practicable means. All other commu- 
nions are not churches, but 'protestant persuasions,' 
groups of heretics or schismatics, having no ecclesiastical 
character, and which are left to the uncovenanted mercies 
of God. Their members, indeed, may, on confession, be 
received into the church by the sacrament of penance ; 
but the communities themselves are, de facto, excommu- 
nicated. To seek direct intercourse with them, would, 
therefore, involve the forfeiture of our own catholicity, 
would degrade us to their level, and would thus betray 
that awful privilege of 6 making the body and blood of 
Christ,' which is committed to our own priesthood, in 
common with the Greek and Eomish priests, and to 
these alone.' 

'Such is the 'catholic' theory of reunion, which Mr. 
Hope with calmness, and Mr. Palmer with bitterness and 
passion, press upon their readers.' Well may the re- 
viewer, an episcopalian of the liberal school, add, 'we 
know not how to express our sense of the enormous 
falsehood it involves, or of the awful peril of that course 
which is thus recommended for our adoption at the 
present time. First of all, the full testimony of Scripture 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



257 



to the true nature and essential elements of the christian 
church, is cast away, trodden under foot, and despised. 
In its room there is put forward a human definition, 
without one shadow of warrant from God's word; a 
definition fraught with all the worst elements of spiritual 
blindness, heartless bigotry, and priestly ambition. We 
ask for the bread of sound doctrine, and they give us the 
stone of lifeless forms ; we seek for the sustenance of 
spiritual worship, and they offer us the serpent-sophis- 
tries, which palliate and excuse the gross idolatry of 
Rome. Next, that search for truth which made the 
Bereans noble in God's sight, that choice which Moses, 
Joshua, and St. Paul, with one voice enjoin and com- 
mand, is openly proscribed as the very essence of heresy, 
in defiance of the clearest declarations of the Spirit of 
God. The laity, bound hand and foot, are given over as 
helpless slaves to the guidance of the priesthood, and 
these again, in the same blind subjection, to their supe- 
riors ; till, by degrees, all the tightening links of unity 
gather around the seven-hilled seat of the Babylonian 
harlot, and the visible church, that noble ordinance for 
the salvation and spiritual life of ransomed sinners, is 
turned into one vast engine of spiritual delusion, by 
which the adversary may lead millions of souls blindfold 
to their eternal ruin.' 

Surely 

If there be rule in unity itself, 
This is not she.* 

As it regards popery, ' it must be acknowledged/ says 
M. Villers, himself a Romanist, ' that the spirit of papism 
is exclusive and intolerant.'f Now the spirit of an insti- 

* Shakspeare's Troilus and Cressida. 

t Essay on the Spirit and Influence of the Reformation, the work 
which obtained the prize of the National Institute of France. London, 
1S05, pp. 79, and 99, 100, et passim. 

22* 



258 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



tuition cannot cease to act, unless the institution cease 
also.* 

That this testimony is true, and that even the free air 
of this republican country cannot infuse a liberal spirit 
into a system, which * owes its establishment and contin- 
uance only to the fertility and perpetuity of error,' and 
which lives, therefore, upon its intolerant exclusiveness 
and its spiritual despotism, will appear from the following 
facts. We will first present an extract from ' A Collection 
of Prayers, Spiritual Exercises, &c, interspersed with the 
various instructions necessary for forming youth to the 
practice of solid piety. Originally arranged for the young 
ladies educated at the Ursuline Convent, Cork. Re- 
vised by the Very Rev. John Power, and approved by 
the Right Rev. Bishop Hughes, pp. 518. New York, 1839.' 

Whenever a protestant minister raises his voice, to warn 
his flock against the insidious efforts of the adherents of 
the pope, to bring our beloved country under the spiritual 
tyranny of a foreign potentate, the cry of uncharitable- 
ness and persecution is raised, not only by papists, but 
by many nominal protestants. To give our readers a lit- 
tle specimen of the charity of holy mother church, towards 
all who doubt her infallibility, and renounce her commu- 
nion, we present the following extracts from a dissertation 
at the end of the volume, on the reasons for adhering to 
the Roman catholic religion. 

* ' It is true, that popery is advancing. It is true that popery, assum- 
ing as it does for the church a divine right to judge for the people 
what is truth, is, and must be, intolerant. It is true, that its history is 
written in blood, and that no denials, no arguments, or even sophistry, 
can wipe from its published and current documents, its broad and 
glaring sanction of whatever oppression, even unto cruel death, may 
be deemed needful to exterminate whatsoever is not submissive to itself. 
It is true, that, (whatever bright examples of ardent piety, of tender 
charity, and generous equity, may have been, or may be, found in its 
communion,) all that is terrible to rational liberty may be feared, if it 
should be armed with power, giving scope to its persecuting and in- 
exorable spirit. That popery is advancing is no light thing — believe 
and tremble !' The Cry of No Popery. Lond. 1842. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 259 

' But is it not very uncharitable, to believe that the Ro- 
man catholic church, besides being the only true church, 
is the only one in which salvation can be obtained ? ' 

1 It is by no means uncharitable to believe this ; no more 
than it is uncharitable to believe any awful truth which 
God has revealed.' 

' But, at least, is it not very uncharitable, in Roman 
catholics, to abjure all manner of communication, in re- 
ligious exercises, with those of every other religion ?' 

' This abjuration, or refusal, so far from being unchari- 
table, is, in their mind, enforced by the truest charity. 
Convinced, as Roman catholics are, and firmly persuaded, 
that there is, and that there can be, no other true religion 
than their own, they cannot, consistently, nor candidly, 
nor lawfully, approve, or even appear to approve, any 
other religion ; which they certainly should appear to do, 
were they thus to join in these religious exercises, or fre- 
quent places of worship belonging to separated commu- 
nions. Such temporizing conduct has the aspect of pre- 
varication ; it is, in short, betraying the truth of God. In 
their principles they must abhor it, as calculated to delude 
their separated brethren into an unfounded, and therefore 
into a most dangerous, security. Charity here compels 
them to stand off Besides, esteeming the gift of divine 
faith to be invaluable, inasmuch as, without faith, it is im- 
possible to please God, they cannot innocently expose 
themselves to the danger of losing it.' 

' But still, when those of other religions scruple not 
occasionally to attend at Roman catholic sermons, and at 
religious exercises in Roman catholic places of worship, 
would there not be something more brotherly in returning 
this compliment, than in standing off with such rigor !' 

' The preceding answer has anticipated a negative to 
this question ; it is now, in addition, to be observed, that 
the principles of other religions allow of such communi- 



260 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



cation; the principles of the Roman catholic religion 
peremptorily forbid it.' 

It is truly overwhelming to consider the "wantonness 
with which the salvation of the soul is made to depend 
upon the belief of points, either notoriously untrue, or 
incapable of any establishment. Thus we are required 
to believe in the uninterrupted succession and duration of 
the Romish church* And yet we know that this is not 
true as to location, since the popes, with their court, re- 
sided at Avignon, for seventy years together ; f nor as to 
persons, since many of the popes were heretics, or infi- 
dels, and therefore no true popes ; and since it is beyond the 
power of any human being to decide who, in many cases, 
were popes, and who were not ; or whether there was any 
at all. It is equally untrue as to order, either in worship 
or discipline, which have been both changed and altered ; 
while, as to doctrine, that church is found insisting upon 
articles of faith, now, which the early Roman church, and 
all the other primitive churches, knew nothing of. 

We must also believe that the church of Rome is the 
mother and mistress of all churches, or otherwise be ac- 
cursed ; % and yet truth obliges us to reject this claim, and to 
grant it to the mother church at Jerusalem. We must fur- 
ther believe that the apocryphal books are canonical, or be 
accursed ; $ and yet are we required, by all evidence, exter- 
nal and internal, by St. Jerome, and by pope Gregory I, to 
believe that this assertion is most glaringlyunfounded.il 

Now surely this is a very awful position, in which an 
infallible church should place her members. Believe her, 
and they must be condemned by God, for believing a lie! 
Believe the truth, and they must endure the anathema- 
tizing curse of this infallible church ! Believe all that 

* This is Bellarmine's Third Note, lib. iv. c. 4. 
t Bellam. de Pontif. lib. iv. c. 4. 

t Concil. Trid. Sen. 7, de Bapt. Can. 3, et Bulla Pii. iv. 
§ Concil. Trid. Sen. 4. 

|| See bishop Williamson, in Notes of the Ch. p. 102, &c. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



261 



was made essential to salvation, by any orthodox church, 
for hundreds of years, and yet reject the superadded 
dogmas of this upstart church of Rome, and you are 
forthwith abandoned to all the terrors of her abiding 
curse ! 

The entire creed of pope Pius, to which every Roman- 
ist adheres, is an anathema and a curse upon all other de- 
nominations of christians. ' I also condemn, reject, and 
anathematize all things contrary thereto, and all heresies 
whatsoever, condemned, rejected, and anathematized by 
the church.'* The church of Rome, on pain of anath- 
ema, teaches to be essential to salvation, and requires as 
a condition of communion, an assent to the following 
propositions : t 

1. That they are accursed, who do not honor, salute, 
and honorably worship, the holy and venerable images. 
Deutero. Nicene. See pp. 109- 111. Creed of Pius IV, 
p. 48. 

2. That they are accursed, who do not believe that 
Christ is present in the holy eucharist, by way of transub- 
stantiation; or who affirm, that, after consecration, the 
substance of the bread and wine remain in the conse- 
crated elements. Lateran IV, pp. 132, 133. Trent, pp. 
238, 239. Creed of Pius IV, p. 48. 

3 That they are accursed, who do not believe that 
there is a purgatory. Florence, pp. 152, 153. Trent, p. 
333. Creed of Pius IV, p. 48. 

4. That they are accursed, who do not receive, for sa- 
cred and canonical, the books of Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, 
Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, two of Maccabees, and the addi- 
tions to the book of Daniel, to wit, the Story of Susannah, 
the Song of the Three Children, and the history of Bel 
and the Dragon. Trent, p. 161. Creed of Pius IV, p. 49. 

* See given in full in Cramp's Text Book of Popery, pp. 388, 389, 
t See Perceval's Roman Schism, pp. 25-27. 



262 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



5. That they are accursed, who deny that confirmation, 
repentance, extreme unction, orders, and matrimony, are 
truly and properly sacraments. Trent, p. 213. Creed of 
Pius IV, p. 47. 

6. That they are accursed, who shall say that there is 
not required in the ministers, while they perform and con- 
fer the sacraments, at least the intention of doing what 
the church does. Trent, p. 217. 

7. That they are accursed, who deny that the church of 
Rome is the mother and mistress of all churches. Creed 
of Pius IV, p. 48. 

8. That they are accursed, who refuse obedience to the 
bishop of Home. Creed of Pius IV, p. 48. 

9. That they are accursed, who shall deny that whole 
and entire Christ, body and blood, soul and divinity, is 
contained at the same time in every species of bread in 
the eucharist, and in every particle thereof ; and in every 
species of wine in the eucharist, and in every particle 
thereof. Trent, pp. 230, 240. 

10. That they are accursed, who shall deny that Christ, 
in the eucharist, ought to be carried about and exhibited 
to the people. Trent, p. 241. 

11. That they are accursed, who shall deny that sacra- 
mental confession to the priests, of every sin, was ordained 
by Christ, and is, by divine authority, necessary for for- 
giveness. Trent, p. 281. 

12. That they are accursed, who shall affirm that the 
sacramental absolution of the priest is a ministerial and 
not a judicial act. Trent, p. 283. 

13. That they are accursed, who shall say that the 
anointing of the sick does not confer grace. Trent, p. 288. 

14. That they are accursed, who shall say, that by the 
command of God, all and each of Christ's faithful people 
ought to receive both species of the most holy sacrament 
of the eucharist. Trent, p. 296. 

15. That they are accursed, who shall say that the 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



263 



masses, in which the priest alone receives sacramental 
communion, are unlawful. Trent, p. 311. 

16. That they are accursed, who shall say that the 
church has not power to dispense with the Levitical 
degrees of consanguinity as impediments to marriage. 
Trent, p. 327. 

17. That they are accursed, who shall deny that mar- 
riage, solemnized but not consummated, is dissolved by 
the religious profession of one of the parties. Trent, 
p. 328. 

18. That they are accursed, who shall say, that the 
clergy may contract marriages. Lateran I, p. 125. Lat- 
eran II, p. 126, 127. Trent, p. 329. 

1 9. That they are accursed, who shall deny that the 
saints departed are to be invoked. Trent, p. 353. Creed 
of Pius IV, p. 48. 

20. That they are accursed, who shall deny the utility 
of indulgences. Trent, p. 339. Creed of Pius IV, p. 48. 

Clement VI, in his bull of anathema, issued against 
the emperor Louis of Bavaria, expresses himself thus :* 
• May God strike him with imbecility and madness ; may 
heaven overwhelm him with its thunders ; may the anger 
of God, with that of St. Peter and St. Paul, fall upon him 
in this world and in the next ; may the whole universe 
revolt against him ; may the earth swallow him up alive ; 
may his name perish from the earliest generation, and 
may his memory disappear ; may all the elements be ad- 
verse to him ; may his children, delivered into the hands 
of his enemies, be crushed before the eyes of their father,' 
&c. Such language, adds M. Villers, did not prevent 
Petrarch, playing on the name of this pope, from saying, 
that he was clemency itself; while Garasse, and all his 
worthy successors, delight in repeating, that Luther was 
a clownish monk, a hot-headed heresiarch, and other pitiful 
things. Strange blindness of ignorance and fanaticism ! 



* Rainaldi Ann. Eccles. in Villers on the Ref. p. 257. 



264 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



The bull against Henry VIII, is ' the excommunication 
and damnation of Henry.' That against Elizabeth is 
' the excommunication and damnation of the queen/ In 
like manner does this church damn all infants that have 
not been baptized by her. { Whither/ she asks, 'go in- 
fants, that die without baptism ? Answer. To that part 
of hell where they suffer the pairis of loss, but not the punish- 
ment of sense; and shall never see the face of God/ 

The following also is a copy of an excommunication, 
found among the papers of Philip Dunn, a Roman catho- 
lic bishop, who resided in the county of Wicklow. ' By 
the authority of God the Father Almighty, and the blessed 
Virgin Mary, of St. Peter and St. Paul, and of all the 
holy saints, we excommunicate Francis Freeman, late of 
the city of Dublin, but now of Sackmill, in the county 
of Wicklow ; that in spite of God and St. Peter, in spite 
of all the holy saints, and in spite of our holy father the 
pope, God's vicar here on earth, and in spite of our right 
reverend father in God, Philip Dunn, our diocesan, and 
the worshipful canons, &c, who serve God daily, he hath 
apostatized to a most damnable religion, full of heresy and 
blasphemy' (Let protestants hear it !) 'Excommunicated 
let him be, and delivered over to the devil, as a perpetual 
malefactor and schismatic. Accursed let him be, and 
given over, body and soul, to the devil. Cursed let him 
be in all cities, and in all towns, in fields, in ways, in 
yards, in houses, and in all other places, whether lying or 
rising, walking or running, leaning or standing, waking or 
sleeping, eating or drinking, or in whatsoever thing he 
does besides. We separate him from the threshold, and 
all good prayers of the church, from the participation of 
the holy Jesus, from all sacraments, chapels, and altars, 
from holy bread and holy water, from all the merits of 
God's holy priests, and all holy men, and from all clois- 
ters, from all pardons, privileges, grants, and immunities, 
which all the holy fathers, the popes, have granted to 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



265 



them ; and we give him over to the power of the fiend ; 
and let him quench his soul, when dead, in the flames of 
hell fire, as the candle is now quenched and put out; and 
let us pray to God, our lady, St. Peter, and St. Paul, that 
all the senses of his body may fail, as now the light of 
his candle is gone out ; except he comes, on sight hereof, 
and openly confesses his damnable heresy and blasphemy,, 
and by repentance, as much as in him lies, make satisfac- 
tion to God, our lady, St. Peter, and St. Paul, the wor- 
shipful company of this church. And as the staff of this 
holy cross now falls down, so may he, unless he recants 
and repents. ' Philip Dunn, 

'Bryan Moore, Register.' 

' We must be further allowed to remind you,' says 
the able address of the American Protestant Association, 
'that notwithstanding the modest guise which that church 
puts on, in this and other protestant countries, no evi- 
dence whatever has been produced, emanating from the 
Papal See, that it has abated its pretensions, or laid aside 
its persecuting tenets. We are not satisfied with the 
disclaimers of Roman Catholic laymen or the denials of 
Romish priests. We insist upon a renunciation from the 
only authority in the church, which has the right to make 
one. We demand that the same power which enjoined 
the persecutions of former days, shall express its disap- 
proval of them, and repudiate the pretended right to per- 
secute for opinion's sake. When proof of this sort is 
produced, we may listen to the suggestion that popery 
has put off its intolerance. We do not, however, rest 
here. We have a witness at hand, who will be deemed 
both competent and credible as to the point under con- 
sideration. This witness is Gregory XVI, the reigning 
pope ; and the document from which we quote, is his 
famous Encyclical Letter of August 15th, 1832. 

' From that polluted fountain of indifference, flows that 
absurd and erroneous doctrine, or rather raving, in favor 
23 



266 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



and in defence of ' liberty of conscience' for which most 
pestilential error, the course is opened by that entire and 
wild liberty of opinion which is every where attempting 
the overthrow of civil and religious institutions; and 
which the unblushing impudence of some, has held forth 
as an advantage of religion, * # # % From hence 
arise these revolutions in the minds of men ; hence, this 
aggravated corruption of youth ; hence, this contempt 
among the people of sacred things, and of the most holy 
institutions and laws ; hence, in one word, that pest of all 
others most to be dreaded in a state, unbridled liberty of 
opinion! 

Again. ' Hither tends that worst and never sufficiently 
to be execrated and detested liberty of the press, for the dif- 
fusion of all manner of writings, which some so loudly 
contend for, and so actively promote.' 

And again. ' Nor can we augur more consoling conse- 
quences to religion and to government, from the zeal of 
some to separate the church from the state, and to burst 
the bond which unites the priesthood to the empire. For 
it is clear that this union is dreaded by the profane lovers 
of liberty, only because it has never failed to confer pros- 
perity on both.' 

To this testimony, we append the following extracts 
from the theology of Peter Dens, a book which is used 
in the Roman Catholic College at Maynooth, Ireland. 
An edition of this work has been published at Mechlin, 
in the Netherlands, as recently as the year 1838. It is 
there distinctly asserted, that 

' Baptized infidels, such as heretics and apostates usu- 
ally are, also baptized schismatics, may be compelled, even 
by corporal punishments, to return to the Catholic faith, 
and the unity of the church.' 

' The reason is, because these by baptism have become 
subject to the church, and therefore the church has juris- 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



267 



diction over them, and the power of compelling them, 
through appointed means of obedience, to fulfil the obli- 
gations contracted in baptism.' 

Again, it is said, by the same author : 

' The rites of other infidels, namely, pagans and here- 
tics, in themselves considered, are not to be tolerated; 
because they are so bad that no truth or advantage for 
the good of the church can be thence derived. Except, 
however, unless greater evils would follow, or greater 
benefits be hindered.' 

After stating that heretics are deservedly visited with 
penalties of exile, imprisonment, and so forth, this 
author asks : 

' Are heretics rightly punished with death ?' 

' St. Thomas answers, (2. 2. quest. XI, art. 3, in corp.) 
Yes, because forgers of money or other disturbers of the 
state, are justly punished with death ; therefore also here- 
tics, who are forgers of the faith, and, as experience 
shows, grievously disturb the state.' 

' Here is documentary evidence of the highest kind, to 
show that popery is unchanged ; to prove that the popery 
of the 19th century and the popery of the 16th are the 
same. We have it affirmed by a standard authority in 
the Romish church, that it is right to put heretics to death, 
And we have it officially promulgated by the present 

pope, that LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE, LIBERTY OF OPINION, 
the LIBERTY OF THE PRESS, and the SEPARATION OF CHURCH 

and state, are four of the sorest evils with which a na- 
tion can be cursed ! Both as protestants and as Ameri- 
can citizens, we count the rights which are here assailed 
as among our dearest franchises ; and we cannot look on 
in silence and see the craft and power of Rome syste- 
matically and insidiously employed to subvert them. 
We deplore the necessity which calls for the measure ; 
but, believing as we do, that patriotism and Christianity 



2G8 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



demand it, we have united, and we invite all who love 
our institutions to unite with us in repelling the aggres- 
sions of the papal hierarchy.' 

We may, therefore, apply to this doctrine of prelacy, 
both Romish and Anglican, the words of Shakspeare : 

1 Nay, had it power, it would 
Pour the sweet milk of concord into hell, 
Uproar the universal peace, confound 
All unity on earth.' 

It is, then, no part of liberality to call this system of 
prelacy, whether Romish or Anglican, catholic. It should 
be remembered, to use the words of Coleridge, that the 
Romish anti-catholic church, would more truly express 
the fact. Romish, to mark that the corruptions in disci- 
pline, doctrine, and practice do, for the larger part, owe 
both their origin and perpetuation to the Romish court, 
and the local tribunals of the city of Rome ; and neither 
are or ever have been catholic, that is, universal, through- 
out the Roman empire, or even in the whole Latin or 
Western church ; and anti-catholic, because no other 
church acts on so narrow and excommunicative a princi- 
ple, or is characterized by such a jealous spirit of mo- 
nopoly. Instead of a catholic (universal) spirit, it may 
be truly described as a spirit of particularism, counterfeiting 
catholicity by a negative totality and heretical self- cir- 
cumspection ; in the first instances cutting off, and since 
then cutting herself off, from all the other members of 
Christ's body.* 

We are well aware, that in expressing these senti- 
ments, we will be held up as utterly contradicting our 
own principles of liberality, and as being bigots of the 
fiercest order. Now it has been justly remarked,! that 
persecution for conscience sake,' is so odious, and the 

* Aids to Reflection, Lond. 1839, pp. 155, 156. 
t See Life of Knox, vol. i. pp. 301, 303. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



269 



least approach to it so dangerous, that we deem it impos- 
sible to express too great detestation of any measure, 
which tends to countenance, or seems to encourage it. 
' But let us be just as well as liberal.' We speak the 
truth in Christ, and lie not. We are exceedingly pressed in 
spirit, and constrained to give our public testimony against 
the system of European popery. We are sincerely sacri- 
ficing our own personal feeling in so doing. Most hearti- 
ly do we wish we could remain silent, or think otherwise 
of this dangerous foreign and hostile system. But it is 
impossible. Woe is unto us if we speak not out, and 
give a timely warning. 

Let that warning be heard. Let our views be candid- 
ly examined. Let us, as protestants and presbyterians, 
have the same freedom of speech, and the same candid 
and impartial hearing, which are so freely given to our 
Romish brethren. Why is jealousy to be exercised only 
towards protestants, and almost exclusively towards pres- 
byterians? Why are we alone to be excluded from all 
the advantages of the spirit, liberality, and charity, which 
our reformers have vainly contributed to originate and 
to foster?* Why are we, their posterity, who cling, it 
may be, with an over-fond tenacity to their opinions, to 
be denied the benefits of that very inheritance they pur- 
chased for us with tears and blood ? Are we alone prone 
to illiberality, and have Romanists and prelatists become 
the exclusive possessors of all true charity ? Are we so 
disinherited of our fathers' glory, and have popery and 
prelacy become so transformed, that whereas they are 
now the presiding genii of all true and genuine liberality, 
we are the very personification of harshness and bigotry ? 

And has it come to this, that while the sworn subjects 
of a foreign prince, who claims over them infallible as 
well as despotic authority, are to be allowed all liberty to 

* McCrie's Life of Knox, vol. ii. p. 25. 
23* 



270 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



propagate their unchristian tenets, to defame protestant- 
ism, and constantly to anathematize and curse us, all 
this is to be regarded as no more than a just exercise of 
liberty and self-defence ; while we, by whose principles 
this great republic was originated, and is upheld, are to 
be reprobated as bigots, and to be heard with the ear 
of a closed incredulity, when we venture to assert the 
irreconcilableness of unchanged and European popery 
with true Christianity, or with genuine liberty, and when 
we would warn the republic of those dangers with which, 
on this account, its stability and happiness are threatened ? 
May God forbid. 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE CATHOLICITY OF PRESBYTERY. 



SECTION I. 

The catholicity of presbytery in its ecclesiastical system, in 
contrast ivith popery and prelacy. 

The polity of the christian church was modelled, as we 
have already proved, after the discipline of the Jewish 
synagogue. That system, which seems to have been a 
development of the simpler and more catholic service of 
the patriarchal dispensation, was permitted, by divine 
providence, if not, as is probable, by express divine teach- 
ing, to run parallel with the national and typical dispen- 
sation of Moses, until it became merged in the christian 
economy.^ The chief characteristics of this system were 
the simplicity of its rites, and the consequent facility with 
which it could be reduced to practice in any part of the 
world. It was not Jewish, like the Mosaic ritual, but uni- 
versally applicable, under whatever form of civil govern- 
ment it might be introduced. It thus stood in direct 
contrast to the temple service, which was strictly national 
and sectarian, and admitted of no alliance or intermixture 
with any other polity or government. While therefore 
the temple had its lineal order of priests, and its prescribed 

* Nolan's Cath. Char, of Chr. p. 191. See also Scott. Chr. Herald, 
for 1839, pp. 627, 653, &c. Brown's Vind. of Presb. Ch. Govt. p. 269. 
Plea for Presbytery, pp. 316, 322. 



272 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



and unalterable ceremonies and forms of consecration, the 
ministers of the synagogue were of no particular tribe or 
lineage, but were received according to the judgment of 
its rulers, and by the simple rite of imposition of hands. 
The sacerdotal service, by being restricted to Jerusalem, 
was, in this way, prepared for abrogation, while the syna- 
gogue service was as plainly capable of extension to every 
clime, and was therefore truly catholic. 

By a strange fatuity, however, that church which arro- 
gates to itself the exclusive attribute of catholicity, has 
assumed, as its exemplar and standard, the partial, narrow, 
and sectarian model of the temple service; while we, to 
whom the very name of catholic is most bitterly denied 
by this arrogant sect, have in every thing practicable, 
conformed our polity to the popular, free, and catholic 
system of the synagogue. In the prelacy, accordingly, 
we find every thing aristocratic, illiberal, and exclusive, 
with a correspondent imitation of the splendid ceremonies 
and external rites of the extinct Mosaic institute, in its 
^priests, altars, and sacrifices ; while presbyterianism is 
found rejecting all such burdensome and unprofitable 
forms, and at once enlarging itself to the full amplitude of 
the most comprehensive and catholic principles. We 
have neither priests, altars, sacrifices, nor mediators, but 
ministers only ; whose great business and duty r it is, to 
lead their hearers to the one mediator, who has made the 
only available sacrifice, 1 once offered upon the cross,' — 
the only altar recognised by Christianity. Any attempt to 
restore such a burdensome ceremonial, which was impo- 
sed upon the Jews for their Jiarclness of licart, must be 
regarded as equally profane and anti-christian, since it 
was by its entire removal Christianity was enabled to dif- 
fuse itself with illimitable freedom. All unnecessary 
ceremonies serve as a pale to religion, by which its com- 
pass is limited, and its diffusion restricted ; and their 
introduction into a religion designed to be universal, is 
therefore clearly incompatible with its very nature. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



273 



There are thus, as presbyterians believe, but two sacra- 
mental rites instituted by Christ, the one as a medium of 
initiation, and the other of communion ; both remarkable 
for their significance, their simplicity, and their adaptation 
to persons of all ages and countries, — purification by 
water, and sustenance by bread and wine, being customs 
universally familiar.* 

As the light of nature teaches that there is a God, and 
that he is to be worshipped, so will that form of worship 
instituted by God, and limited by his revealed will, be 
found to be the simplest that can be conceived, and most 
contrary to the devices and imaginations of men, who are 
never satisfied without ceremonies equally formal, gor- 
geous, and burdensome. Religious worship is therefore 
to be given to God, — the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, — 
and to Him alone, and not to angels, saints, or any other 
creature ; neither is God to be worshipped by any visible 
representation, or in any way not prescribed in Scripture. 
Prayer with thanksgiving ; the reading of the Scriptures 
with godly fear ; the sound preaching of the gospel and 
conscionable hearing of the word, with understanding, 
faith, and reverence ; singing of psalms with grace in the 
heart ; as also the due administration of the sacraments 
instituted by Christ; are all parts of the ordinary religious 
worship of God ; besides religious oaths and vows, solemn 
fastings and thanksgivings upon special occasions, which 
are in their several times and seasons, to be used in a 
holy and religious manner.! Neither are prayer or any 
other parts of religious worship now under the gospel, 
either tied unto, or made more acceptable, by any place 
in which they are performed, or toward which they are 
directed, so as to make any gorgeous or consecrated tem- 
ple essential and requisite; but God is equally present 
wherever he is sought, and is every where to be worship- 

* Nolan, as above, p. 244. 
t Conf. of Faith, ch. xxi. 



274 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



ped in spirit and in truth ; as in private families daily, and 
in secret each one by himself, so more solemnly in public 
assemblies * 

Such being the simple ritual of the christian worship, 
as drawn forth in the standards of onr church, and its per- 
fect adaptation to the universal family of man, in whatever 
stage of civilization men may be found ; the designed 
extension of these privileges of the christian church is 
plainly not less (Ecumenical. The visible church to which 
these ordinances are given, is truly catholic or universal, 
embracing all those throughout the world, of whatever 
name, age, condition, talent, or rank, that may at any time 
or manner be led to embrace the true religion, together with 
their children.! Such is our idea of the church, and beyond 
this nothing more comprehensive can be possibly con- 
ceived. It is the one entire body of which Christ is the 
head, and of which all are members who have been partici- 
pants of his one Spirit of grace. It is the kingdom of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, the house and family of God ; including 
every son and daughter of Adam who have been called 
to the knowledge of his truth, and excluding none, by 
whatever name they are called, who profess to be subject 
unto Him. It is characterized by universality, unity, and 
the widest charity, and is infinitely removed from secta- 
rianism, exclusiveness, and bigoted and intolerant illib- 
erally. 

Nor will this comprehensive and catholic character of 
the church, as understood by presbyterians, be at all 
abridged when we contemplate the officers by whom its 
discipline is administered. Repudiating as judaical and 
autichristian, the whole theory of a hierarchical caste or 
priesthood, who constitute in fact the church, and to whom 
all its authority and privileges are made, of right, to belong ; 
we believe that it was unto the catholic visible church, 

* See Nolan's Conf. of Faith, ch. sari, 
t Ibid, ch. xxv. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



275 



composed of children and adults, as above described, that 
Christ gave the ministry, oracles, and ordinances. We 
believe that it was for the gathering and perfecting of the 
saints, and not for their own honor, emolument, or dig- 
nity, this ministry was instituted ; and that it is by no 
power, sanctity, or priestly mediation on their part, but by 
Christ's presence and Spirit, according to his promise, 
these ordinances are made effectual to the accomplish- 
ment of the glorious purpose, of uniting all saints to 
Jesus Christ their head * The ministry was given to and 
for the church, and presupposes its existence ; — the 
church was not ordained for the benefit and glorification 
of the ministry. All the power, authority, jurisdiction, and 
influence of the ministry, come to it therefore through the 
church — the body — according to the appointment of 
Christ the Head. The ordinary and perpetual officers of 
the church, are therefore only bishops or pastors ; the 
ruling elders ; and deacons. But each one of these has 
exclusive reference to the edification and welfare of the 
christian people. Bishops, by whatever title they are 
denominated, or their duties characterized, are the over- 
seers, pastors, ministers, messengers, of the people, depu- 
ted by Christ to dispense to thern the manifold grace of 
God, and to act, for them, as stewards of the mysteries of 
his kingdom. Billing elders are the representatives of 
the people, chosen by them, and set apart to watch over 
their interests in conjunction with the pastors. While 
deacons have no other duties than to take care of the poor, 
to distribute among them collections raised for their use, 
and to superintend the temporal affairs of the church. 

Now it is manifest, that wheresoever God by his Spirit 
gathers together a congregation of faithful men, to profess 
the truth, and to submit themselves to his ordinances, 
there may these officers be easily and certainly obtained. 



* Conf. of Faith, ch. xxv. 



276 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



If no regularly constituted body is at hand to provide them 
with a bishop, they can elect one of their number, after 
seeking guidance from on high, to minister unto them in 
holy things. They can as certainly choose out from 
among themselves holy and competent men to act for 
them as their elders and deacons. And thus does it 
appear how Christianity, as described in the Bible, and de- 
veloped in presbyterianism, is at once capable of extension 
to the widest circumference of humanity, and how it con- 
tains within itself the germinant principles of vitality, 
diffusion, unity, and universality. 

The catholic character of the presbyterian church, con- 
sidered as an ecclesiastical system, is thus seen in her 
constitution. She does not proclaim herself to be 1 the 
church,' or ' the catholic church,' but to be a component 
part of that universal church, of which there can be but 
one, the aggregate of all. Wherever there are true 
christians, there is the church, and there are members of 
the universal or catholic church. Christian unity, therefore, 
is to be found not in any uniformity of outward order, or 
subjection to any external authority, but in the participa- 
tion of ' the one spirit,' of ' the one baptism,' by which 
all are initiated into it, and of •' the one faith.'* There 
must, of necessity, be local and national divisions, and 
parties. While the family of man is locally divided, there 
must be ' different provincial and local churches.'! There 
cannot, therefore, be visible union. But there may be 
unity among these separate denominations, even where 
there cannot be a consolidated ecclesiastical government; 
just as our division into families, districts, and states, does 
not prevent our national union as a republic. We do not 
lose our individuality or independent sovereignty, in any 
of these respects, by our confederation for the advance- 

* Eph. 4: 16. See Nolan's Cath. Char, of Christ, pp. 81, 97, 99. 
Also pp. 90-94. 
t Mr. Sibthorp's Letter, p. 25. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



277 



merit of interests common to all alike. And in like man- 
ner, we do not cease to be christian, and therefore catholic 
when we become presbyterian, ormethodist, or any other 
essentially scriptural denomination. 

Presbyterians do not, however, regard ecclesiastical 
government as a matter of indifference.* f On the contrary ? 
it has a close connection with purity of doctrine, rigor of 
discipline, peace and order. Every society, then, and 
every individual, as he has opportunity, is bound to make 
the principles of ecclesiastical polity, laid down in the 
New Testament, a subject of careful examination. All 
forms of church government are to be compared with the 
standard of truth, and that particular one adopted which 
comes nearest to the principles contained in the Holy 
Scriptures.' ' But when it is said that the constitution of 
the church has been drawn up in the scriptures, it is not 
meant that this is done in a regular and formal way, as 
in ordinary constitutions. All that is done in the New 
Testament, is the laying down of fundamental princi- 
ples ; the particular form and application of which is left 
to the church. The true spirit of these principles must 
never be violated; but under this restriction there is 
some latitude, which may bring societies of different forms 
within the pale of the universal church. If this is not 
admitted, we must cut off from the church, and from the 
covenanted mercies of God, societies of all the different 
forms except one — and the difficult question must be 
decided which one is that ? Every different denomina- 
tion will maintain, in this case, its apostolical purity, and 
excommunicate every other. Thus the bond of brother- 
hood will be broken asunder, and the reproach of Chris- 
tianity will be perpetuated. The presbyterian church in 
the United States has determined, that this evil shall not 

* Dr. Rice, in Evang. Mag. ix. 306, 307. 
24 



278 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



stain her escutcheon. ' Let brotherly love continue,' is 
the motto on her banner!'* 

Such is presbyterianism. It is a stand for the suffi- 
ciency of Scripture, and the supremacy of Christ ; for 
liberty of private judgment, and of individual practice ; for 
the recognition of all as christian brethren, ' who hold 
the Head ;' for mutual tolerance in matters of secondary 
importance, where there is unity in that which is essen- 
tial ; for that universal communion of all christians, which 
is the only substantial, visible, and possible unity ; and the 
unrestricted intercourse of ministers and churches, not- 
withstanding their diversity in forms and ceremonies. 
To make uniformity of discipline, the measure of chris- 
tian unity, and the basis of christian communion and fel- 
lowship, is to put church order in the place of Christianity, 
and the form of the building in the place of Him who 
built it. ' Christ must be first, fellowship next, and then 
as much uniformity as will follow from the two.' This is 
the principle and the spirit of presbyterianism; " and hence, 
instead of being schismatical, it has less of sectarianism, 
and more of catholicity, than any other system whatever.'! 
While we claim for our own order and polity a near con- 
formity to the scriptural platform, we nevertheless hold 
that in those things that essentially belong to divine wor- 
ship, all real christians are agreed, and that in those 
things which appertain essentially to the nature of church 
discipline, all denominations concur. If outvjard unifor- 
mity be the chief good, let it be sought in Romanism. 
There may the inquirer find quiet silence, and the most 
passive obedience. But the man who is distracted by 
the bustling activities and jarring interests of the living 

* See Form of Govt. ch. i. 5. Also in her Confession of Faith, ch. 
xxvi. 2. 

t See Binney's Dissent not Schism, p. 70. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



279 



world, may find as reasonable a retreat in the church- 
yard, or the sepulchre. The dead are quiet enough.* 

Our very name, for we have none other than christian, 
manifests our catholicity. We are presbyterians only 
from our position and circumstances, as w^e protest 
against those who usurp the rights of presbyters, and 
enthrone themselves over them in despotic supremacy. 
This title we bear in our modern reformation, as a public 
attestation to the truth, that the true, original, and apos- 
tolic episcopacy, was presbytery. But we are not pres- 
byterians, except as a part of our character is put for the 
whole, — we are presbyterian christians. We are in short 
presbyterian, because we are bible and apostolic chris- 
tians. We are not even catholics, a name appropriated 
by every sect, as by the ancient Arians ; by the Greek 
church, and by the Donatists ; and a title which could not 
have been applied to the christian church, until, by her 
extension, the christian faith had been generally if not 
universally preached throughout the world. In the begin- 
ning, therefore, as some Eomanists confess, the church 
was not called catholic, while many of those bodies 
which were afterwards known by this title are now 
adjudged to be guilty of schism and heresy.f We bear the 
names of no earthly leaders, as the Lutherans, Zuingli- 
ans, Arminians, Benedictines, Franciscans, Dominicans, 

*' With as good a plea,' says Milton, (Reason of Ch. Govt. Wks. vol. 
i. p. 103,) ' might the dead palsy boast to a man, it is I that free you 
from stitches and pains, and the troublesome feeling of cold and heat, 
of wounds and strokes; if I were gone, all these would molest you. 
The winter might as well vaunt itself against the spring, I destroy 
all noisome, and rank weeds, I keep down all pestilent vapors; yes, 
and all wholesome herbs, and all fresh dews, by your violent and hide- 
bound frost ; but when the gentle west winds shall open the fruitful 
bosom of the earth, thus overgirded by your imprisonment, then the 
flowers put forth and spring, and then the sun shall scatter the mists, 
and the manuring hand of the tiller shall root up all that burdens the 
soil, without thank to your bondage.' See also Herschel's Letter to 
Sibthorp, p. 38. 

t See Notes of the Ch. Examined, pp. 73, 75. 



280 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



Jansenists, Molinists, and Papists; nor are we denomi- 
nated, from any earthly country or kingdom, as the 
Roman, or the Anglican churches. One is our master, 
even Christ. Our kingdom is not of this world, nor our 
doctrine of man, and therefore do we bear Christ's name, 
as did the disciples at Antioch ; while at the same time, 
we are not unwilling to hold forth our specific distinction 
amid, the other branches of the church, and to be called 
The Church Presbyterian. Christian is our name, and 
presbyterian our sirname. 

Even, however, as presbyterian, we can present the 
most irrefragable arguments for our true catholicity. 
Does Catholicity imply priority ? Dr. Edwards,* a very 
learned episcopalian divine of the reign of Queen 
Anne,f after a careful examination of the several texts 
bearing on the subject, draws the following conclu- 
sion : 1 thus we can show the time when we are sure 

THERE WAS A PRESBYTERY J BUT WE CAN'T SAY THERE WAS 

episcopacy at that time in the church. This is own- 
ed by some of the most celebrated writers of our church; 
and even Mr. Dodwell, who was thought by his friends 
to be as able a defender of episcopacy as any they had, 
confesses there were no such fixed rulers as bishops in 
the church at first. (De Jure Laic. cap. 3, § 14.) Dr. 
Whitby shows the same, and is as large in the proof of it, 
( Ann. on 1 Thess. ch. 5. ) Dr. Edwards then goes on to chas- 
tise a confident braggadocio, the author of the ' Rehear- 
sal,' and asks, ' where, then, is our great boaster, who 
challenges all mankind to prove that presbyters were 
made before bishops ? Is it not plain, from all the afore- 
cited scriptures, namely, Acts 11: 29, 30; Acts 14: 23; 
Acts 15 : 2, 4, 6, 22, 23 ; Acts 16:4; Acts 20 : 17, 28 ; and 
Titus, 1:5; James, 5 : 4 ; 1 Peter, 5:1; and the suffrage 
of episcopal writers themselves, that presbyters had the 

* See in Lect. in Apost. Succ. p. 136. 
f Theolog. Ref. vol. i. p. 523, 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



281 



start of bishops, whatever this pretender makes a show 
of, and notwithstanding his telling ns, that this is the single 
point on which the whole controversy depends ? If it be 
so, he must own himself baffled, and all his pretensions 
are empty and insignificant.' 

Does catholicity imply apostolicity ? Eveiy church, as 
we have seen, constituted by the apostles, was presbyte- 
rian. Does it imply universality ? We challenge the pro- 
duction of a diocesan church or bishop, for more than two 
centuries, perhaps we might say three, of the christian 
era. Does it imply continued succession from the apos- 
tles ? No one has ever questioned the uninterrupted suc- 
cession from the apostles' time till now, of the order of 
presbyters. Does it imply uniformity ? On this point of 
presbyterian order, all those have agreed, who in every age 
have maintained the gospel pure, entire, and uncorrupted. 
Does it imply majority in the votes of all existing christian 
bodies ? Four fifths of all these go for presbyterianism, and 
against, the exclusive assumptions of the Romish hierar- 
chy.* 

On the other hand, it may be shown, that the Romish 
church is not catholic ; that in those very points in which 
she places most confidence, she is identified with ' the man 
of sin and mystery of iniquity,' and that, in her opposition 
and contumelies, we have the brightest evidence of our 
catholicity. The church of Rome, says bishop Bull,! 
has quite altered the primitive ecclesiastical government, 
changed the primitive canon or rule of faith, and miser- 
ably corrupted the primitive liturgy, or form of divine wor- 
ship. 1 1 have,' says he, ' gone through the several heads 
of discourse which I proposed to myself, and sufficiently, I 

* See Presbytery and not Prelacy the Scriptural and Primitive 
Polity. 

t Corruptions of the Ch. of Rome, II, in Vind. of Ch. of Eng. pp. 159, 
163, 243, 261. 

24* 



282 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



think, proved, that the church of Rome hath altered the 
primitive ecclesiastical government ; changed the primi- 
tive canon or rule of faith ; and, lastly, miserably corrupt- 
ed the primitive liturgy and form of divine worship. For 
these reasons laid together, I can never be induced to en- 
ter into the communion of the Roman church, as now it is ; 
and for the same reason, (to speak my mind freely,) I won- 
der how so learned a man as Monsieur de Meaux, can, 
with a good and quiet conscience, continue in it' 

Now, what bishop Bull has proved by the full establish- 
ment of these charges against the church of Rome, has 
also, we believe, been made good against the prelacy in 
the present and preceding works. By the introduction of 
her spiritual despotism, by making her bishops governors 
of the whole church, and all other pastors to be but their 
vicars and substitutes, she, too, has quite altered the prim- 
itive ecclesiastical government. By binding upon the 
church a stated liturgy, by introducing prayers for the dead, 
and by re-adopting many of the forms, rites, and ceremo- 
nies of the Romish church, derived through her from pa- 
ganism, she has greatly perverted the apostolic form of 
worship. And as that church which has altered the ec- 
clesiastical government and form of worship prescribed by 
the apostles, either by adding to, or by taking from them, 
cannot, so far forth, be a true, pure, apostolical, and cath- 
olic church, therefore must we exclude the papacy and the 
prelacy from the full application of this term. Whereas, 
the presbyterian church, abiding as she does, in all things, 
T)y the model of the apostolic churches, and by their form 
and order of worship, is truly catholic. 

Again, is all christian unity centred in Christ, the head 
of the entire body of the Church ? — then is that catholic- 
ity wanting in the papacy, which makes the pope or a gen- 
eral council, the head and centre of all churches, — then 
is that catholicity found in presbyterianism which main- 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



283 



tains that ' there is no other head of the church but the Lord 
Jesus Christ, nor can the pope of Rome, in any sense, be 
head thereof.'* Is the cementing bond of catholicity 
derived from that ' One Spirit,' which is ' the Spirit of 
Christ,' and of which, through Him, all the members of the 
church are made partakers ? — then is not the papacy or 
the prelacy catholic, since they teach us to find this bond 
of unity in the pope or the prelates ; then is the presbyte- 
rian church catholic, since it teaches that Christ ' doth by 
his own presence and Spirit, according to his promise, 
make the ministry, ordinances, and oracles of God effect- 
ual to the gathering and perfecting of the saints.'f Does 
catholicity require that the truth, which is the nourish- 
ment of the church, should be equally open to all ? Then 
is it not found in the Romish or prelatic churches, which 
shut it up in the granaries of their own ecclesiastical tra- 
ditions and priestly interpretation ; but in the presbyterian 
church, which teaches that ' God's word is truth,' that ' all 
scripture is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correc- 
tion, that men of God may be thoroughly furnished unto 
every good work ; ' and which invites all to ' search the 
scriptures,' and to eat ' the living bread.' Does catholici- 
ty demand a ritual, adapted to all classes and conditions 
of men, and in their native tongue, so that all may learn 
in their own language, the wonderful works of God ? — 
then, surely, it is not found in prelacy, which is adapted 
only to the educated classes of society ; i nor in popery, 
which makes ' ignorance the mother of devotion,' and an 
unknown tongue the vehicle of instruction ; but in presby- 
tery, which comprehends in its wide embrace all nations, 
all ages, all conditions, and adapts itself with facility to ev- 
ery modification of the human mind, and to every stage of 
civilization and refinement, and which proclaims to every 

* Conf. of Faith, ch. xxv. sect 6. 
t Ibid, sect. 3. 

| Lond. Quart. Rev. Dec. ] 839, p. 75. 



284 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



man, in his own vernacular language, the glorious gospel 
of the grace of God. Does catholicity imply the necessi- 
ty of ordinances which depend, not upon the technical va- 
lidity of official administration, or the good pleasure of a 
prelatic aristocracy, bat upon the operation of that one and 
the self-same Spirit, which is imparted alike to all ? — 
then can it never be found in the opus operatum sacra- 
ments of men, but in the simple ordinances of heaven. 
Does catholicity further suppose the most perfect adap- 
tation to missionary enterprise ? — ' the prelacy,' says Rhe- 
nius, 'is not fitted for missionary effort ; # and the papacy, 
we know, has only succeeded by accommodating itself to 
the kindred superstitions of paganism ; while presbytery 
is, by its very constitution and design, a church of exten- 
sion, a system not of rules, but of principles, whose 
progress has been sometimes in opposition to the ruling 
powers, sometimes in concurrence with them, yet always 
reaching forth from sea to sea, and from the rivers unto 
the ends of the earth. Does catholicity also necessarily 
involve the existence of some common rule or standard of 
faith and practice, a rule made by one that is above all, 
and whose authority is acknowledged by all, and which is 
alike open to all ? Such a rule papists have not, since 
they have heaped together whole volumes of decrees and 
councils in this yet unsettled controversy ; such a rule pre- 
latists have not, since their tradition and canons cannot be 
universally known, understood or read, by all ; but such a 
rule presbyterians have, 'in holy Scripture, or the word of 
God, written and given by inspiration of God, to be the 
rule of faith and life ; so that the infallible rule of interpre- 
tation of scripture is scripture itself.'t Finally, does cath- 
olicity require a catholic governor or judge in all contro- 
versies and of all destinies ? — we find it not in the unde- 

* Churchman's Monthly Rev. June, 1841, pp. 342, 346. 
t Conf. of Faith, ch. i. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



285 



termined and contradictory decrees of discordant popes, 
councils, and convocations; — the supreme Judge, by whom 
all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all 
decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines 
of men, and private spirits, are to be examined, and in 
whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other, as our 
church teaches, but the Holy Spirit speaking in the scrip- 
ture .* 

The following sentiments are from M. de Martin, a cel- 
ebrated Romanist. t ' True Christianity is not only anterior 
to Catholicism, but also to the name of Christianity itself . . . 
Christianity is the domain of freedom and of liberty ; Ca- 
tholicism is only the seminary of Christianity ; it is the do- 
main of the rules and discipline of conversion. . . .Christian- 
ity fills all the earth equally with the Spirit of God. Ca- 
tholicism fills only one part of the globe. . . . Christianity di- 
lates and extends the use of our intellectual faculties. 
Catholicism contracts and circumscribes the exercise of 
these same faculties. . . . Christianity has excited no war, 
except against sin : Catholicism has excited it against men, 
&c.' . . . ' Now,' adds M. Villers, ' it was against Catholicism 
(that is, Romanism,) and in favor of true Christianity, that 
the reform was undertaken.' 

"What, then, let us ask, are the boasted vouchers of our 
assailants for their claim to the monopoly of divine grace, 
and of all catholicity ? Prelatists are, we are told, the most 
numerous and comprehensive — but ' the whore sitteth on 
many waters,' and ' the waters are peoples, and multitudes, 
and nations, and tongues.' They are the most powerful ; 
but ' the great city, (that is, Babylon,) reigneth over the 
kings of the earth.' They are patronized by kingly and 
noble favor ; — but ' the kings of the earth have commit- 

* Conf. of Faith, ch. i. sect. 10. See Baxter's Wks. vol. xvi. pp. 334, 
- 354. 

t Le Min. de l'homme esprit, in Villers on the Ref. Lond. 1805, p. 11. 



286 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



ted fornication, and lived delicionsly with her.' They 
manifest unbroken uniformity and unquestioning obe- 
dience ; — ' the kingdom of the beast was full of darkness.' 
They proclaim austerities, penances, fastings, and total 
abstinence from lawful pleasures ; — but is not the apos- 
tacy described by ' forbidding to marry, and commanding 
to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be re- 
ceived with thanksgiving ? ' They put down the liberty of 
reason, conscience, and individual opinion ; — that is, ' he 
as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that 
he is God.' They have been always visible in the glory, 
power, and pomp of hierarchical splendor, but the true 
church ' fled from the dragon into the wilderness, where 
she hath a place prepared of God.' They are now flushed 
with the hope of again crushing all dissentients; — but 
' power is given to the beast over kindreds, and tongues, 
and nations ; all that dwell upon the earth shall worship 
him,' but ' the remnant of the woman's seed keep the 
commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus 
Christ.' There stands the system in the prophetic mirror 
of the unerring word, and by this word is it judged, con- 
victed, and condemned* 

Are we every where spoken against, as heretical and 
schismatical ? We may remember, to our great comfort 
and joy, of what church our Saviour said, that they should 
be reviled and reproached, and have all manner of evil 
said against them, and how literally these predicted say- 
ings were fulfilled in the experience of the apostolic 
churches.! Luke 6 : 26, 22 : 23. 1 Pet. 4 : 14. Math. 5 : 
11. 1 Cor. 1 : 23. 

* See Hamilton on Missions, pp. 117, 119, 141. 

t ' As for those terrible names of sectaries and schismatics, (Milton's 
Wks. vol. i. pp. 104, 105.) which ye have got together, we know your 
manner of fight : when the quiver of your arguments, which is ever 
thin, and weakly stored, after the first brunt is quite empty, your course 
is to betake ye to your other quiver, of slander, wherein lies your best 
archery.' 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



287 



The apostles and primitive christians, says Dr. Rice, 
were dissenters, in the fullest sense of that term ; and were 
treated, both by Jews and Gentiles, as hardly as any high 
churchmen have ever treated those who have borne the 
name in modern times. ,# 

Take the word catholic, therefore, in its primary mean- 
ing in application to the church, as 'consisting of all' 
nations, and the presbyterian church is most evidently 
catholic, since it opens its arms to embrace all, of all 
nations, whether Jew or Gentile, who will enter into it. 
Take the term catholic in that sense in which it is de- 
scriptive of the church, considered as the union of all 
particular churches under one divine Head, for so, ' says 
bishop Sherlock, the catholic church signifies in ancient 
writers/t and how loudly does the presbyterian church 
proclaim her catholicity in that protest which she enters 
against any exclusive appropriation of the blessings of 
salvation ; in that liberality of feeling, with which she 
fraternizes with all who love the Lord Jesus Christ in 
truth and sincerity ; and in that claim which she ad- 
vances, to be recognised as a branch of the one, Holy, 
Catholic, and Apostolic Church. 



SECTION II. 

The catholicity of presbytery, in its doctrinal system, in 
contrast with popery and prelacy. 

We have now considered the claim of the presbyterian 
church to the character of catholicity, considered in its 

* Evang. and Lit Mag. vol. ix. p. 421. 
t See in do. p. 14. 



288 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



ecclesiastical system ; but this application of the term 
catholic, though now the most essential in hierarchical 
vocabularies, was, in the view of that very antiquity, which 
is gifted by them with infallibility, a subordinate and un- 
dervalued signification. According to antiquity, the church 
is distinguished as catholic by its faith, as particular by its 
form of government. s Wherever,' says Ignatius, ' Christ 
is, there is the catholic church.'* He defines a church by 
its form of government, but the catholic church by consent 
of doctrine. t The language of Tertullian is equally def- 
inite. $ Augustine, $ in his questions on Matthew, says, 
1 These are good catholics, who follow the entire faith and 
a good practice.' 

The term catholic, therefore, has nothing to do with 
ages and nations, but an individual is catholic, and a church 
is catholic, that adheres to the general rule of faith, adoring- 
one Lord, observing one baptism, and holding to one doc- 
trine. A church which has maintained such a profession for 
eighteen centuries, and in all nations, is not more catholic 
than was the church of Jerusalem in the first century, and 
in the province of Judea, or than is some presbyterian 
church in the nineteenth century, and in some remote 
locality.l! True catholicity is therefore synonymous with 
orthodoxy. 

The last claimant to its possession, comes to it under 
the same conditions required of its first inheritor. Prela- 
tional dignity can give no right, nor length of succession 
any prescription, against 1 the truth as it is in Jesus.' The 
first and the last hold by the same tenure. Catholicity 
where there is not divine truth, is an absurdity, and divine 

* Ep. ad Smyrn. § 8. 

t See Burgess's Tracts, p. 275, and Ad. Trail. § 3. 

% De Baptismo, c. xvii. See above. That the fathers commonly 
used the term in the sense of orthodox, see bishop Beveridge's Wks. 
vol. ii. p. 197. Sherlock, in Notes of the Ch. Exam. p. 13. 

§ In Blair's Wald. vol. ii. p. 624. 

|| See Burgess, as above, p. 293. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



289 



truth without catholicity, is equally preposterous. To 
assert the contrary is blasphemy. A hierarchy may claim, 
or a prelatical succession boast of, the character of catho- 
licity, but a church ' holding forth the truth,' can alone derive 
the title from the God of truth. And to suppose that catho- 
licity is withheld from such a church, or given to any other 
body, is absurd impiety, and a contradiction in terms. As 
nobility in some countries, as in China, mounts upwards, 
so that he who has it conferred upon him ennobles his 
ancestors, not his posterity, so does the steadfast profession 
of the true doctrines of scripture, impart the character of 
catholicity to all who hold it, and to all their spiritual an- 
cestry. Prelatists, therefore, use the word catholic in a 
sense, directly opposed to that given to it by the Anglican 
and other reformers.^ 

That church, then, which adds to or takes from the faith 
as once delivered to the saints, so far forth ceases to be 
catholic. Now the Romish and Anglican churches have 
altered the scriptural rule of faith. This they have done 
by adding many new articles ; by adding to the catholic 
rule of faith one entirely different, even the traditions and 
authority of the church ; and by explaining articles in 
that catholic creed, in a new, sectarian, and uncatholic 
sense.! That these churches hold such articles of faith 
as are additional, not to say contradictory, to the catholic 
rule, we must now assume as having been abundantly 
demonstrated, and at once apparent.^ For that church 
which holds to the Apostles' creed and the Nicene creed, 
holds those truths which, by consent of all christians, in 
the first ages of the church, were alone fundamental, and 

* See Goode's Div. Rule of Faith, vol. i. xii. 

t See this charge fully sustained by bishop Bull, in his Vindication 
of the Ch. of Engl. (Oxf. ed.) pp. 112-114, 113, 114-117, 123, 149, 
167, 216. 

J See bishop Bull, ibid, pp. 121, 178, 183, 186, 192, 202. 204, 219, 
230. 

25 



290 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



therefore catholic. These constituted for ages the sym- 
bols or formularies of the church catholic. This position 
is fully sustained by our opponents, and established by 
their own antiquity. Thus the third general council, that 
of Ephesus, decreed,^ - that it should not be lawful for any 
one to produce, write, or compose any other creed besides 
that which was agreed on and defined by the holy fathers, 
who were met together at Nice, by the Holy Spirit ; and 
those who should dare to compose, produce, or offer any 
other creed to such as desired to return to the knowledge 
of the truth, from Paganism, Judaism, or any heresy what- 
soever, should, if bishops, be deposed from their epis- 
copal throne ; if inferior clergymen, deprived of holy 
orders ; if laymen, excommunicated, or cast out of the 
church.'f The whole canon is remarkable, and very much 
to our purpose ; but we are especially to observe those 
words, ' or from any heresy whatsoever.' For hereby the 
Ephesian Fathers declare, 1 that if any person was charged 
with any kind of heresy whatsoever, he should sufficiently 
purge himself by the acknowledgement of the aforesaid 
creed ; and that upon his subscription thereunto, or pro- 
fession thereof, he should be absolved, and received into 
the communion of the church as a complete and perfect 
catholic ; and that whoever should propose to such a per- 
son, any thing else to be believed, as a necessary condi- 
tion of ecclesiastical communion, should himself be liable 
to the censure of the church.' 

This position, so clearly assumed by antiquity, is sus- 
tained not only by prelatists generally, but by the Council 
of Trent itself. $ ' In their third session, before they come 
to define any one particular article, they declare it neces- 
sary, after the pattern (forsooth) of the ancient Fathers 

* See bishop Bull, ibid, pp. 104, 105. 

t See in ibid, pp. 113, 114, and Cummings's Apol. for Ch. of ScotL 
p. 7. 

J Bishop Bull, ibid, pp. 116, 117. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



291 



and Councils, (whom they have imitated not half so well 
as an ape doth a man,) to premise the symbol, or rule of 
faith, used in the holy church of Rome, (which is indeed 
the creed of Constantinople,) and beginning with these 
words, ' I believe in one God,' and this creed they judge 
necessary to be in so many express words professed by 
their whole assembly, as ' the principle wherein all chris- 
tians, that profess the faith of Christ, do necessarily agree ; 
and the only firm foundation, against which the gates of 
hell shall never prevail.' Where, when they profess this 
creed to be the principle, wherein all christians do ' neces- 
sarily agree,' they plainly intimate, (if we poor protestants 
may presume to understand their meaning by their words,) 
that there is no absolute necessity that all christians should 
agree in other things. But their following words are ex- 
press, wherein they acknowledge this creed to be 1 the 
only foundation,' and, consequently, that nothing is to be 
laid as a foundation beside ; nay, that this creed is ' the 
only firm foundation, against which the gates of hell shall 
never prevail.' For who would not here conclude, that, 
(by the confession of the Trent fathers themselves) who- 
soever fixeth his feet upon this foundation, and departeth 
not from any one article contained in this creed, stands 
sure, as to all points of faith, and is in no danger at all of 
damnation, or hell-fire, upon the account of heresy ? ' 

' They are true catholics, says Vincentius, in his famous 
rule, ' who hold that which hath been believed always, 
every where, and by all. # Now what more we ask, as it 
regards the evidence of catholicity, what more can be 
demanded, than the articles contained in these early 
creeds ? "When we say nothing, we give the response of 
very high authorities in this matter.! 

* Commonitorium. Eosproprie esse Catholicos, qui tenent id, quod 
semper, &c. creditum est. 

t See bishop Williams, in Notes of the Ch. p. 116 ; Newman on Ro- 
manism and Dissent, passim. 



292 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



The Romish and prelatic churches have, however, im- 
measurably widened the foundations of catholicity, and 
by widening have adapted them to the measure of their 
own sectarian and bigoted exclusiveness. For, to use the 
words of bishop Bull * 1 how prodigally doth this pack of 
bold and presumptuous men bestow their anathemas ; 
thundering out hell and damnation to millions of pious 
souls, who stand firmly upon this only firm foundation, and 
cannot be proved to have denied any one point reducible 
or deducible from any article of the rule of faith.' 

And how well has the Anglican prelacy bettered the 
instructions of her ' holy mother,' by her un catholic and 
unrighteous decrees, canons, impositions, and anathemas ; 
and driven from her bosom the millions that have come 
out from the midst of her, and who still protest against 
her tyrannous usurpation of the prerogatives of Christ. 

On the other hand, the presbyterian church holds firmly 
to this ancient and catholic foundation of the faith. It is 
embodied in her confession ;t it is made the basis of her 
definition, in the widest possible comprehension, of the 
visible catholic church ;$ and at no time have these doc- 
trines, or any of them, been disowned or called in ques- 
tion by any public act of the entire body professing her 
principles. In fact the Apostles', the Nicene, and the 
Athanasian creeds are, the first verbatim, and the other 
two substantially, adopted by the presbyterian church. $ 
And while for the guidance of her own bishops and officers, 
our church has drawn forth other articles from the Scrip- 
tures, as the bond of their union, and a declaration to the 
people, II she does not make these a term of church com- 

* See bishop Williams, ibid, pp. 117, 118. 
t See ibid, p. 39S. 
% Conf. of Faith, ch. xxv. 

§ See Cummings's Apol. for the Ch. of Scotland, p. 7. 

|| Our Confession of Faith is not binding on the members, but only 
upon the ministers and officers of the church. It does not enforce 
every ' truth or duty,' as a term of communion. This, our church 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



293 



mvmion, or essential either to the being of a church, or to 
the character of a true christian. She therefore opens her 
arms to the embrace of all who hold the Head, and wel- 
comes them to a seat at her communion-table. In her 
creed, therefore, in her practice, and in her terms of chris- 
tian communion, the presbyterian church is truly catholic. 
In this respect, the doctrines she proclaims are the same 
with those that patriarchs taught their families, prophets 
the people, apostles the nations, and Christ the world.* 
And even as it regards her more enlarged standards, it 
was the catholic intention and purpose of our church by 
framing her confession of faith, and by requiring subscrip- 
tion to it from all her ministers and officers, in this way 
most effectually to guard, preserve, and perpetuate the 
true faith and order of the gospel, — the primitive and 
apostolic inheritance, — and thus formally to maintain her 
connection with the church catholic, by retaining that — 
all that — and only that — which appertains to the church 
universal. And since scripture is ' the depository of the 
will of our heavenly father,'! she has therefore gone to it 
for all her doctrines and institutions. She rests her claims 
to truth confessedly upon this divine testament, knowing 
that there is an essential difference between catholic truth, 
and individual opinion, by whatever fathers or doctors it 
may be held, or by whatever number of them it may have 
been expressed. To use a figure adopted by Dr. Wise- 
man ; as the ancient Romans, who repaired and kept ever 
from destruction the cottage of Romulus, though, compared 
to later and more gorgeous edifices, it might appear use- 
less and mean to the stranger that looked upon it, so have 

never has done. (See Hodge's Hist, of Presb. Ch. part ii. p. 330.) Nor 
does it consider even ministers worthy of suspension, except when 
convicted of dangerous errors.' (B. of Disc. ch. v. § 13, 14.) See also 
Hodge, vol. ii. p. 438. 

* Cummings's Apol. ibid, p. 10. See also Baxter's Wks. vol. xvi. 
p. 287. Dr. Rice in Evang. Mag. 9, 192, &c. 

j Dr. Pusey, in Library of the Fathers, vol. i. p. 4. 

25* 



294 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



we ever held fast to the simplicity and purity of gospel 
truth. Well therefore may we take up the parable, and 
say to those who would appropriate to themselves the 
name and virtues of the catholic church, ' we have ten 
parts in the catholic church, and we have also more right 
in it than ye ; — why do ye thus despise us ? ' # 

* See Fulke. Conf. Rhem. N. T. Eph.4: 13. p 258. Am. Ed. 



CHAPTER VII. 



THE SECURITY, SAFETY, AND EFFICIENCY OF PRESBYTERY. 

There is perhaps no other argument, which has 
greater practical influence in favor of Romanists, than 
the allegation, that, even in the judgment of protestants, 
they must be on the safer side; and that, while they 
afford infallible certainty in matters of faith, the religion 
of protestants can afford no such certainty. These 
groundless assertions, for which there is no manner of 
support, have been most diligently repeated by prelatists, 
in application to the system of presbyterianism. Now 
the very reverse we believe to be the truth in the case. 
Protestants do not allow the prelacy of the church of 
Rome, or of England, to be the safer side, or a safe side 
at all ; nor do they believe that it is able to give certainty 
in matters of faith. They believe, on the contrary, that 
the highest security and certainty are afforded by the 
presbyterian branch of the church catholic. That the 
Romish and the Anglican churches are both true, that is, 
real churches of Christ, and therefore integral portions of 
the catholic visible church, we cheerfully admit. In doing 
so, however, we stand upon the foundation laid in our Con- 
fession, and by which 'all who profess the true reli- 
gion, with their children,' constitute that church. But 
among the churches which compose this universal body, 
there is, manifestly, a great diversity of character, and of 
claims. Some are pure, some imperfect, some corrupt, 
and some false. By an imperfect church we understand, 
a church which continues steadfastly in the apostles' doc- 



296 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



trines, teaching the pure word of God, and omitting no 
great and essential truth of the gospel ; but in which the 
sacraments are not duly administered, or whose order, 
polity, and ministers, are not perfectly conformed to the 
scriptural model. 

By a corrupt church we understand one, which, while 
it preserves the great and essential truths of the gospel, 
at the same time adds other things to these truths, which 
are not found in God's word, but are rather repugnant to 
the same ; and thus, by human traditions, or any other 
spurious authority, makes vain the preaching of the truth, 
and corrupts the administration of divine ordinances. 

By a false or apostate church we mean that church 
which lays any other foundation than Christ and his right- 
eousness ; which denies any of the great and essential 
doctrines of the word of God ; or interprets the word of 
God according to its own vain imagination. Such a church, 
whatever else it may possess of order or discipline, and 
however it may claim the temple, the priesthood, an- 
tiquity, or succession, is a false church * 

By a pure church, again, we understand, a society 
whose confession of faith agrees with the doctrine of 
Jesus Christ and his apostles; and which is governed 
solely by the laws laid down in the word of God, or 
drawn from it by plain and necessary inference. The 
signs of such a church are soundness of doctrine; a 
lawful and regular ministry ; the prevalence of love among 
its members and towards all saints; and the due admin- 
istration of gospel ordinances, including discipline.! 

We distinguish, therefore, between the being of a 
church, and its well-being ; between its existence, and its 
integrity or perfection ; between its essence, and its state 
or condition at any given period ; in short, between that 

* See the author's Eccl. Catechism, 2d ed, q. 30. 
t Ibid, q. 31. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



297 



which is essential to its very existence, and those things 
which may be superadded by the pride, pomp, or circum- 
stance, of vain- glorious man. Of all those things that do 
not absolutely belong to the essence of the church, but 
only to its state or condition, it may be wholly or in part 
deprived, without being destroyed, however grievously 
impaired. * It is thus we are able to recognise those 
bodies as, in their essence, churches, which we must, 
nevertheless, pronounce imperfect, corrupt, or false, in 
their state, condition, and superadded doctrines. Thus 
also are we enabled to hope that within the bosom of 
such churches there may be many who are true chris- 
tians, and therefore members of the invisible church; and 
who, with more or less publicity, bear testimony against 
their errors. There is, however, great danger in being 
associated with such bodies, since the human mind, 
through the influence of depravity, has a natural and 
powerful affinity to error, by which it is strongly attracted; 
and an aversion to spiritual truth, by which it is repelled. 

Such churches as are imperfect, may be improved; 
such as are corrupt, reformed ; while such as are false, must 
be subverted and built anew upon the foundation of apos- 
tles and prophets. In the mean time, it is the duty of all 
to examine well the character and creed of the several 
churches claiming their adherence ; to bring them to the 
law and the testimony ; to search and try them, whether 
they speak and act according to the unerring word ; to 
ascertain from the Scriptures, what is the orthodox faith, 
and thus to discover where that orthodoxy is main- 
tained in greatest purity and power; and, if thus led to 
discover the corruption or apostacy of the church to which 
they belong, to come out from the midst of her, and be 
separate. And, as the essence of Christianity consists in 
its doctrines, and not in its forms ; as true apostolical suc- 



* See Claude's Def. of the Ref. vol. ii. p. 209. 



298 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



cession is found in the succession of the truth ; we are to 
estimate the character of any church by its doctrine, 
rather than by its polity. With a defective or unautho- 
rized ministry, it may have pure doctrine, and thus be no 
more than imperfect. With the most legitimate and 
scriptural ministration, it may have corrupt doctrine, and 
thus be corrupt. Or it may have both false doctrines and 
unauthorized forms of polity, and in this case be openly 
apostate. 

The Romish church, we are constrained to regard 
as a false and apostate church. We consider the pre- 
latic church, in its high-church phase, as corrupt; the 
episcopal, in its low- church form, and other churches, as 
imperfect; and the presbyterian, though not absolutely 
perfect, as a true and pure church of Jesus Christ. We 
can truly and justly glorify God for all that which makes 
up the essence of a true church ; our faith is sound, our 
piety is pure, our charity is sincere ; and God preserves 
and upholds, in the external communion of our church, 
those truly faithful and regenerated persons, who consti- 
tute the members of the true church* Our church unites 
in its constitution three great elements, nowhere else to 
be found in such full combination, and is at once ortho- 
dox, apostolical, and protestant. It is orthodox, or catho- 
lic, by the full profession of those early creeds, which 
embody the testimony of the truly primitive church ; by 
upholding the sufficiency of the Scriptures, as the only 
infallible rule of faith and practice; and by rejecting all 
other doctrines and commandments of men. It is apos- 
tolical, by holding fast the profession of the apostles' doc- 
trine, fellowship, and prayers, and to that order of min- 
istry, and form of discipline, which they established. 
And it is protestant, by exhibiting most fully, in its con- 

* That this was the opinion of the fathers, see proved by many quo- 
tations in Claude's Def. of the Ref. vol. ii, p. 213, &c. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM, 



299 



fession and catechisms, the way in which truth must be 
applied unto the heart for salvation ; bearing full witness 
to the righteousness of Christ, as the alone ground of par- 
don and acceptance with God ; and to the influences of 
the Holy Spirit, as the only source of sanctification and 
holiness. Thus has God, of his singular goodness, com- 
bined in our church the three grand elements of purity 
and perfection ; catholic orthodoxy, apostolical order, and 
protestant fidelity. She is not heretical, because she ad- 
heres to the faith once delivered to the saints. She is 
not schismatical, for she is not answerable for those cor- 
ruptions, impositions, and anathemas, which separated 
her from the papacy and the prelacy. ' She is not a 
usurper ; her faith has been professed for eighteen cen- 
turies ; her polity was established in Jerusalem, the mother 
of all churches, and at Antioch, the mother of all Gentile 
churches ; and both have been maintained, throughout 
the world, by the earliest, the best, and the purest 
churches. She is not deficient in means of grace, since 
she possesses all the privileges of the church ; enjoys all 
the spiritual gifts, promised by Christ to those who seek 
them; and inherits from Christ's divine charter all the 
functions of the christian ministry. She is not wanting 
in authority, for to her belong the authority of apostoli- 
cal origin, succession, and mission ; the ministerial admin- 
istration of Christ's laws and institutions ; and the dele- 
gated power of proclaiming the truth as it is in Jesus. 
She is not found wanting in the certainty with which she 
fulfils her high office as an ambassador for Christ, the pil- 
lar and ground of the truth, since in her rule of faith 
there is all the certainty which rational beings can re- 
quire. # We have the three creeds, which can derive no 
light from popes or councils, that we do not possess. We 
have our standards of faith, which were drawn up by the 



* Burgess's Tracts, p. 307. 



300 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



most learned men of a very learned age. And the right 
use of these means of faith, which a merciful Providence 
has given us, requires only the ordinary exercise of our 
rational faculties. We have, also, in those plain words of 
scripture, 1 If thou wouldst enter into life, keep the com- 
mandments ;' ' Do this, and thou shalt live;' ' Believe in 
the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved;' ' Forgive, and 
thou shalt be forgiven ;' ' Whatsoever ye would that men 
should do unto you, even so do unto them;' infallible 
directions, both for faith and conduct.' 

The presbyterian church is not more fallible than the 
church of Rome ; but she is fallible, not because she is 
only apart of the church universal, but because it is the 
property of human nature to be fallible. The church of 
Rome has shown herself fallible in many things, and in 
nothing more than in that very pretence that she is infal- 
lible, and that she is not a part of the universal church, 
but the whole of it. 

The presbyterian church does not pretend to be infalli- 
ble ; but her children have a confident reliance on this 
instruction, that 'if any one lack wisdom, let him ask of 
God, in faith, and it shall be given him ;' and in Christ's 
promise of the assistance of God's Holy Spirit to them 
that ask him. They are, moreover, sure, that by such 
assistance, and by the sober use of the faculties which 
God has given them, they cannot be deceived in such 
things as most pertain unto salvation* 

Our church, therefore, has all the security which can 
be possibly enjoyed. She is built upon the rock. Her 
foundation was laid in the counsels of eternity, and com- 
pleted by apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself 
being the chief corner-stone. Her walls are salvation. 
Her bulwarks are the sure testimonies of God. Her 
monuments and towers the everlasting promises. Her 



* See ibid, ibid. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



301 



armory, the treasury of divine truth. Her provisions,, 
the sure mercies of David — that covenant that shall 
never be broken. Her hope, the two immutable things 
which can never fail, the promise and the oath of God. 
Her anchor, therefore, is sure and steadfast, being entered 
within the vail. As the mountains are round about Jeru- 
salem, so is the Lord round about her, to send peace 
within her walls and prosperity within her palaces ; so 
that even the gates of hell shall not prevail against her. 
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of 
our God, in the mountain of his holiness. Beautiful for 
situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion. God 
is known in her palaces for a refuge. As we have heard, 
so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the 
city of our God : God will establish her for ever. Selah. 
1 Let Mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be 
glad, because of thy judgments. Walk about Zion, and 
go round about her : tell the towers thereof Mark ye 
well her bulwarks, consider her palaces ; that ye may 
tell it to the generation following. For this God is our 
God for ever and ever : he will be our guide even unto 
death.' 

We had intended to go fully into this subject, did our 
limits permit. We were prepared to show, that the system 
of the presbyterian church is safer than either the Romish 
or the prelatic, because it holds most purely to the doctrines 
of the Bible ; because it more clearly and fully proclaims 
the truth ; because it affords better protection to the 
truth ; because, as a church, it can be more certainly dis- 
tinguished : because it possesses a ministry authorized 
by the commission and charter of Christ ; because it 
maintains, with most fidelity and purity, the form of 
church order, government, and discipline, established by 
the apostles, and preserved by the first christians ; be- 
cause it is most adapted to promote spirituality ; because 
it best secures purity of discipline ; because it is found to 
26 



302 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



be most destructive to the principles of infidelity ; because 
it most properly administers the sacraments ; because it 
provides for greater unity ; because it is most conducive 
to the promotion of morality, and the prevention of crime ; 
because it is most efficient in its efforts for the extension 
of the church, and the evangelization of the world ; and 
because it is the most liberal and. charitable. 

"We might also proceed to show how presbyterianism is 
favorable to the spread of light and knowledge, of civil 
and religious liberty — but we must forbear. Enough has 
been advanced to satisfy the most timid conscience, that, 
while we deny not the salvability of other communions, 
there is far greater safety and certainty to be found in the 
presbyterian church, than in either the Romish or prelatical. 
Holding the truth in its purity and its entirety; proclaiming 
it clearly ; protecting it against all error ; securing most 
effectually the removal of heresy and error ; promoting 
most surely the revival of sound doctrine and holy prac- 
tice ; perpetuating the apostolic ministry, orders, ordinan- 
ces, and discipline, in all their simplicity and power ; 
providing for the greatest unity ; holding up a shield of 
defence against infidelity ; promoting spirituality ; devoted 
to the advancement of the cause and kingdom of Christ 
at home and abroad ; and doing all this in the spirit of 
true christian liberality ; the presbyterian church proves 
that she possesses the four great elements of catholicity, 
unity, publicity, popularity, and universal diffusiveness, 
and offers a sure and safe retreat to all who are inquiring 
the way to Zion. She is admirably qualified to instruct 
the ignorant, to enlighten those who are in darkness, to 
console the real penitent, to teach the way of salvation 
to the lost, to edify the believer in Christ, and to guide 
sincere inquirers to the attainment of everlasting life. 



CONCLUSION. 



We have now endeavored to illustrate the catholicity 
and the liberality of presbytery ; and to show how, when 
weighed in the balances, it is not found wanting, but 
commends itself to universal approbation and favor. 
And as others have taken in hand to uphold the repub- 
licanism of opposing systems, we have examined into 
the true principles of republicanism, and demonstrated, 
we think, the perfect identity with it, of the principles of 
presbytery, which is the government of the people. 

Th'e presbyterian mode of discipline and government, 
besides its scriptural basis, recommends itself by the fol- 
lowing arguments. It is founded essentially on the principle 
of representation, which pervades American society. It 
does not make all the members of a church judges ; but 
'sets those to judge who are most esteemed in the house 
of God.' It presents a firm barrier against the ambition 
and encroachments of the clergy — fpr it unites with the 
minister a council of wise, prudent, and godly men, 
taken from the body of the communicants, without whose 
consent no measure can be carried. It furnishes one of 
the best securities for preserving the rights of both pas- 
tor and people ; for it provides to an individual of either 
order, who may suppose himself wronged, the opportu- 
nity of appealing to a higher tribunal, where his cause 
will be heard without local prejudice, by judicious, 
enlightened, and impartial men. It secures to ministers 
of the word and sacraments counsel and support in all 
their official proceedings, of the best possible kind ; for 
those who are associated with them are acquainted with 
the views of the people, participate in their feelings, and 



304 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



are able to give sound advice as to the wisdom and prac- 
ticability of those plans, which require general coopera- 
tion, for carrying them into effect. It possesses an advan- 
tage also on the score of despatch and energy, as well as 
of wisdom and the security of equal rights. It unites 
believers together in one body, and thus is friendly to 
the spread of the gospel, by furnishing facilities for 
efficient and cooperative action in promoting the great 
interests of the Redeemer's kingdom. The general 
assembly of the church presents the beautiful spectacle 
of the various members of one vast and extended society, 
meeting together by their representatives as one in 
Christ, to unite with heart and hand in the service of 
their Lord. Such is the system of presbyterian govern - 
ment. # 

Presbyterianism, under God, making its appeal to the 
hearts of the people ; resting its confidence upon the 
affections of the people ; looking for its advancement to 
the activity and cooperation of the people ; invoking in 
all its assemblies, from the least unto the greatest, the 
presence and counsel of the people; and throwing the 
responsibility of all its doings upon the equal and con- 
trolling voice of the. people ; is in perfect keeping with 
that government which glories in being the government of 
the people. Why has the presbyterian. church surmounted 
every obstacle, and cleared her way through such a wil- 
derness of impassable difficulties, to her present eleva- 
tion and greatness? Because sustained by the nerves 
and the sinews of the people. And why has she not 
achieved still greater triumphs, and enrolled among her 
friends still greater multitudes ? simply because depend- 
ing, as has been said, upon the force and energy of the 
people, the engrossing interests of mercantile and agri- 
cultural pursuits have deprived her of that measure of 



* Sketch of the Presbyterian Church in England. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 305 

zealous devotion to her cause, and cooperation in her 
designs, without which she cannot prosper. She is fram- 
ed in adaptation to such an union of the people. She 
presupposes and requires it for her full development. 
She is, without it, but as a man with one arm, instead of 
two — she cannot accomplish even half what she might 
otherwise perform. Destitute of an intelligent, pious, 
and devoted eldership, the presbyterian church is seen as 
a powerful and athletic man whose arms are pinioned, or 
whose feet are in the stocks. Designed to promote the 
best interests, and to meet all the reasonable wishes, of 
her people, the responsibility of her failure, or success, 
rests mainly upon them. Yes, presbyterian laymen, upon 
you does it depend, whether this church shall go forward 
from strength to strength, or languish and decay. Your 
interest, your prayers, your activity, your liberality, your 
devotedness, in combination with a faithful ministry, and 
both blessed of God — this is all we have to look to for 
success. We claim, as ministers, no exclusive and offi- 
cial possession of the divine gifts. "We pretend to no 
priesthood, to no sacrifice for sins, to no power of 
plenary absolution, to no authority to enforce confes- 
sion, to no damnatory power beyond the grave. We 
are of you, and among you, and one with you, and desire 
that you should account of us as stewards of the myste- 
ries of heaven, ambassadors for Christ, heralds of the 
cross, and your servants in the gospel. 

The cause of Christ among you, is, therefore, thrown 
upon your best affections ; upon your love, and not your 
fear ; your gratitude, and not your terror ; your hopes, and 
not your servile prostration ; your liberality, and not your 
tithed assessments ; your willing consecration, and not 
your slavish and blind obedience. Will you, brethren, 
abuse this great grace of God, or undervalue this heav- 
enly birthright, or lightly esteem this august inheritance ? 
May God forbid. Montesquieu has shown, that the prin- 
26* 



306 ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 

ciple of a republic, or the spring by which it acts, is vir- 
tue — that is, as he understands the term, love of the 
established government of the republic — devotion to its 
interests, a preference of these interests by each indi- 
vidual to his own ; in a word, what we call public spirit, 
or patriotism. In such a government, every man should 
feel, that in prompting the common weal, he is advancing 
his personal welfare ; and should be actuated, therefore, 
not by the principle of fear, or penurious selfishness, but 
by love and a generous liberality. IS T ow precisely similar 
is the constitution, and the principle, of our church. In 
preference to other churches, she founds her claims to the 
cooperation and assistance of all her members, upon the 
liberty and privilege she so abundantly confers. 

Presbyterianism, to the carnal eye, does not present 
the same attractive form which is assumed by her pre- 
latic rivals, who appear before their votaries in all the 
' pride, pomp, and circumstance,' of ceremonial forms ; 
but whatever influence over the ignorant and unthinking 
multitude may in this way be gained, is a dear purchase, 
when christian truth and duty, and charity, must be im- 
paired for its sake. 

We, christian brethren, and our fathers, have possessed 
a talent of unspeakable value. We have enjoyed, as a 
church, unlimited freedom and spiritual independence. 
We have no king but Christ. We call no man master 
upon earth. We are in subjection to no traditions of the 
fathers — nor to any will-worship, formality, and super- 
stitions of men. We bow to no deified images. We 
cringe to no priestly mediators, and lick the dust of no 
wooden crucifixes. We are the Lord's freemen. We 
are in bondage to no power on earth. We wear the 
livery of no spiritual despot. Our government is a gov- 
ernment of written laws, and it is administered by our 
people themselves, without let, hindrance, or tyranny. 
This, brethren, is a great, a distinguishing privilege. 



ECCLESIASTICAL 



REPUBLICANISM. 



307 



Of the two great branches of the Reformation in 
Europe, the Lutheran Churches, and the Reformed — the 
Lutheran had no spiritual independence, but were 
wholly subjected to the state. And of the four great 
Reformed Churches of France, Geneva, Holland, and 
Scotland, — - the Protestant Church of France, planted by 
Calvin, has been laid waste by the persecution of anti- 
christ. Geneva is desolate by the withering pestilence 
of heresy, and the exclusion of the laity from her coun- 
cils. Holland has been prostrated to the civil power. 
The Reformed National Church of Scotland has also 
been subjected to the vassalage of a state establishment, 
and to the corrupting influence of patronage, and is now, 
therefore, waging warfare for her usurped rights. In the 
prelatic churches every where, and of every name, the 
priesthood is every thing, and the people nothing. But 
we are free, we hold by the Head, we maintain professed 
allegiance to the King of kings, and King of saints. We 
alone renounce all interference, of man, all submission to 
any earthly laws, and we alone can sit under our vine 
and fig tree, none daring to molest or make us afraid. 
The principles we maintain are the religious strength of 
the country ; the grand bulwark that alone can arrest and 
drive back to their native regions, the pestilential heresies 
of Popery and Puseyism ; and, in proportion as these 
principles, in harmony with evangelical piety, are under- 
stood, appreciated, and advanced, in the same degree 
will our national greatness and prosperity be secured. 
' Columbia sic stab it ; Christique arx alta manebit. 1 

We would impress upon the people the duty of taking 
interest in all the affairs of the church, of informing 
themselves fully of all the claims and advantages she 
confers, and of fitting themselves to give a reason of their 
ecclesiastical preference, to every man that asketh them. 
The life of our system is a spiritual life. It lies in the 
culture of the mind and heart — the reason and the con- 



308 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM. 



science. ' It is bound up in those principles which must 
be taught from father to son, from generation to generation, 
with care, with toil, with sacrifice.' It is a prize above 
all price. It is a heaven-descended gift, preserved and 
perpetuated by the blood of martyrs. It is an inheritance 
more valuable than that of houses or lands, of silver or 
gold, and which we are bound by every duty to ourselves, 
to our children, to our country, and to our God, to pre- 
serve and perpetuate at every sacrifice. It is a cause, 
again worthy of martyrdom. It is, brethren, your cause, 
and not the cause of your ministers. Let not the duty it 
imposes upon you, as individual christians, as deacons, 
elders, and officers, as active and efficient agents, as dili- 
gent and laborious Sabbath School teachers, as earnest 
instructors of your children and families in the history, 
principles, and reasons of our church government and 
doctrine — let not these be thought irksome. Let them 
not be regarded as secondary to what you call the more 
important interests of life.* You are assuredly mistaken. 
In looking after business, you may be neglecting your 
chief business, which is to secure the liberties, civil and 
religious, of yourselves and your posterity. Without the 
active, zealous, and devoted cooperation of all its mem- 
bers, our church may be compared to a human body, 
' more perfect as to the skeleton, and more beautifully 
constructed than that of others, but which from languor 
of circulation is become somewhat feeble in muscle, 
incapable of throwing off peccant humors, and ill qual- 
ified for energizing with vigor, when compared with a 
frame less perfectly compacted, but possessing a more 
lively circulation, and a more elastic activity.' But let 
our church be supported by the hearty cooperation of all 
its officers and members, and it will be found possessed 
of both these classes of advantages, without their corres- 
ponding deficiencies, and be mighty, through God, to the 
pulling down the strong-holds of sin and. Satan. 



APPENDIX. 



THE PRACTICAL EFFICIENCY OF PRESBYTERY IN PROMOTING 
MORALITY AND PREVENTING CRIME. 



That church may he regarded as the most safe and certain, which 
is found, in its practical working, most conducive to the promotion of 
morality and righteousness, and to the prevention of crime — ' by their 
fruits ye shall know them,' ' for righteousness exalteth a nation.' This 
is a very plain and practical test. 

Now it is admitted by prelatists, that presbyterianism is at least as 
conducive to morality as any other system. ' We know,'* says a 
recent able and candid episcopalian writer, ' that there are, and have 
been, whole nations of professed Calvinists, who, in successive genera- 
tions, have not appeared at all below their neighbors of other persua- 
sions in the general tone of their morals.' 

The doctrines of presbyterianism are adapted to lead to holiness, 
both of heart and life. Toplady testifiest to the superior power of his 
preaching, in converting souls, when he preached the Calvinistic sys- 
tem, than before ; and, if conversion to God be the first and best secu- 
rity for individual holiness, and through it, national morality, it is 
plain that Calvinism must be considered the friend of both. He says, 
in 1774, 'as to the doctrines of special and discriminating grace, I 
have thus much to observe, that for the first four years after I was in 
orders, I dwelt chiefly on the general outline of the gospel. I 
preached little else but of justification by faith only in the righteous- 
ness and atonement of Christ, and of that personal holiness, without 
which no man shall see the Lord. My reasons for thus narrowing 
the truths of God, were, (with humiliation and repentance I desire to 
speak it,) these two : first, I thought these points were sufficient to 
'convey as clear an idea as was absolutely necessary of salvation; and, 
second, I was partly afraid to go any farther. God himself (for none 
but he could do it) gradually freed me from that fear. And, as he 
never at any time permitted me to deliver, or even insinuate any thing 
contradictory to his truths, so has he been graciously pleased, for be- 
tween seven and eight years past, to open my mouth to make known 
the entire mystery of his gospel, as far as his Spirit has enlightened 
me in it. The consequence of my first plan of operations was. that the 
generality of my hearers were pleased, but very few were converted. The 
result of my latter deliverance from worldly wisdom and worldly fear, 
is, that multitudes have been very angry. But the conversions which 

* Christianity Indep. of the Civil Government, p. 46. 
+ In Lo rimer's Manual, p. 278= 



310 



APPENDIX. 



God has given me reason to hope he has wrought, have been at least 
three for one before. Thus, I can testify, so far as I have been con- 
cerned, the usefulness of preaching predestination, or, in other words, 
of tracing salvation and redemption to their first source.'* 

In meeting the objection, that the Calvinistic doctrines tend practi 
cally to licentiousness, the Rev. Hugh White, curate in Dublin, says,t 
'and here, it cannot surely but excite the unfeigned surprise of every 
unprejudiced mind, to observe that a directly contrary tendency is 
manifested in the strenuous upholders of the doctrines of free grace ; 
and that, generally speaking, they are as much distinguished by their 
peculiar devotedness to the service of God, and the pursuit of holiness, 
as by the peculiar doctrines of their creed — so that, by a contradic- 
tion that would be amusing, were not the subject so serious, their 
doctrines are condemned as being too loose, and iheir lives as being 
too strict!' 

Bishop Burnet says, s a Calvinist is taught, by his opinions, to think 
meanly of himself (how unlike the picture drawn by bishop Hughes ! ) and 
to ascribe the honor of all to God; which lays in him a deep foundation 
for humility ; he is also much inclined to secret prayer, and to a fixed 
dependence on God.' 

The article in the Encyclopedia Britannica on Predestination, con- 
tains these remarks. ' There is one remark, which we feel ourselves 
bound in justice to make, although it appears to us somewhat singular. 
It is this: that from the earliest ages down to our own days, if we 
consider the character of the ancient Stoics, the Jewish Essenes, the 
Modern Calvinists and Jansenists, when compared with that of 
their antagonists, the Epicureans, the Sadducees, the Arminians, and 
the Jes uits, we shall find that they have excelled, inno small degree, in the 
practice of the most rigid, and respectable virtues ; and have been the 
highest honor of their own ages, and the best models for imitation for every 
succeeding age.'' This surely is no measured praise ; and yet, that it is 
from one who was no Calvinist, appears, not only from the above re- 
mark on ' the singularity ' of the fact, stated by him, but still more, 
from the following sentence : ' At the same time it must be confessed, 
that their virtues have in general been rendered unamiable, by a tinge of 
gloomy and severe austerity/ 

Again. ' In Letters addressed to a Serious and Humble Inquirer,'' &c, 
by the Rev. Edward Cooper, Rector of Hampstall Ridwane, (a distin- 
guished episcopal clergyman of England, and no Calvinist,) it is 
thus written: 'Among no denomination or description of professing 
christians, is there to be found a larger portion of humble, pious, and de- 
voted servants of God, persons of a truly christian spirit, zealous of good 
works, and exemplary in every duty and relation of life, thoin among those 
who hold the Calvinistic tenets. I am sure that your observation and your 
candor will fully justify this statement. And, therefore, so far as this 
system, is to be judged of by its actual effects, I think, that on a 
candid reconsideration of the subject, you will be induced to abandon 
your objection, and to admit, that it was founded on an erroneous and 
partial view of the subject.'' 

A similar testimony is given by another episcopalian, a lieutenant 
in the English army. ' Having been led to a belief in these doctrines,' 

* See a similar testimony by Abraham Booth, in his Death of Legal Hope, p. 46 ; 
in Lorimer, pp. 279, 280, and the very remarkable one given by Dr. Chalmers, in 
his Address to the inhabitants of Kilmany ; in Works, vol. xii. p. 71, &c. 

f Sermons, Dublin, 1633, 6th ed t vol. i. pp. 141, 142. See the whole discourse. 



APPENDIX. 



311 



he says* ' now I felt I had power, through Christ strengthening me, 
to rush into the midst of the battle against the world, the flesh, and 
the devil, and to give a helping hand to others. Oh ! truly they say 
falsely, who affirm that these are doctrines tending to laxity of moral 
and spiritual conduct and life; surely they who have felt their power, 
(and they only can give an opinion,) can testify to the very reverse, 
and assert that they inspire (under the Spirit's teaching) the christian 
soldier's heart to begin, and continue to fight the good fight of faith 
unto death. And why 'i because he has been assured by the Captain 
of his salvation, that he shall gain the victory, and come off 'more 
than conqueror through him that leveth him.' 

Such was the influence exerted upon the nation by the prevalence 
of puritanism. ' During the troubles,' says the Rev. J. Jones, the 
biographer of bishop Hall, and a minister of the church of England,! 
' of the times, on account of the differences between Charles I, and 
the parliament, puritanism was in one sense productive of much 
good. The reformation of manners was then very remarkable. The laws 
against vice and profaneness were so strict, and so vigorously put in 
execution, that vice was forced to hide itself in corners. The magis- 
trates did their duty in suppressing all kinds of games, stage plays, 
and abuses in public houses. There was not a play acted on any theatre 
in England for almost twenty years. Profane swearing, drunkenness, or 
any kind of debauchery, were not to be heard or seen on the streets. 
The Lord's day was observed with unusual reverence. The churches 
were crowded with numerous and attentive worshippers, three or 
four times in the day. The peace-officers patrolled the streets of 
London, and all the public houses were shut up. There was no trav- 
elling on the road or walking in the fields, except in cases of absolute 
necessity. Religious exercises were set up in private families — as 
reading the Scriptures, family prayer, repeating sermons, and singing 
of psalms. This was so general a custom, that we are told a person 
might walk through the city of London, on the evening of the Lord's 
day, without seeing an idle person, or hearing any thing but the voice 
of prayer or praise from churches or private houses. It is also said, 
that there was hardly a single bankruptcy to be heard of in a year, and that 
even in such a case the bankrupt had a mark of infamy set upon him, 
that he could never wipe off'.' 

' But in our island,' to add the testimony of Mr. Carlyle.f 'there 
arose a puritanism, which even got itself established as a presbyte- 
rianism and national church among the Scotch ; which came forth as 
a real business of the heart 5 and has produced in the world very 
notable fruit. In some senses, one may say it is the only phasis of 
protestantism that ever got to the rank of being a faith, a true heart- 
communication with Heaven, and of exhibiting itself in history as 
such.' 

When puritanism was put down, and prelacy triumphed, what was 
the result ? ' Sad was the state of religion,' says Mr. Strype, ' at this 
time ;§ the substantiate being lost in contending for externals ; the 

* Church in the Army, p. 151. 

t Biography of bishop Hall, pp. 455, 456 ; in Lorimer, pp. 280, ?81. See Burnet's 
Teslirn. in Neal, vol. iv. p. 313. As to the Albigenses and Wakienses, see con- 
fessions of their enemies, in Faber's Albigenses, pp. 432, 433. 

% Lectures on Heroes, p. 231. English ed. 

§ Ann. p. 98. Neal's Purit. vol. i. pp. 244, 245. See also, pp. 293, 297, 315, 371, 
391. Edinb. Rev. Jan. 1841, In Lorimer, ibid, p. 281. Neal, vo-. iii. pp. 92, 107, and 
vol. iv. pp. 16, 53, 313, 320, 321, 335, 347, 300, and vol. v. p. 21. See also Ediub. Rev. 
July, l&S, p. 267. 



312 



APPENDIX. 



churchmen heaped up many benefices upon themselves, and resided 
upon none, neglecting their cures. Many of them alienated their 
lands, made unreasonable leases, and waste of woods, and granted re- 
versions and advowsons to their wives and children. — Among the lai- 
ty there was little devotion ; the Lord's day greatly profaned, and little 
observed ; the common prayers not frequented ; some lived without 
any service of God at all ; many were mere heathens and atheists ; the 
Queen's own court a harbor for epicures and atheists, and a kind of 
lawless place, because it stood in no parisTi ; which things make good 
men fear some sad judgments impending over the nation.' 

Toplady confirms this statement* ' With that prince, ( Charles II,) 
Arminianism returned as a flood, and licentiousness of manners was 
coextensive with it. We have had since that period more than one 
hundred years experience of the unsanctified effects which naturally 
result from the ideal system of free will and universal redemption. 
What has that system done for us ? It has unbraced every nerve of 
virtue, and relaxed every rein of religious and social duty. In propor- 
tion to the operation of its influence, it has gone far toward subvert- 
ing all moral obedience, and seems to endanger the entire series, even 
of political and ecclesiastical subordination, &c. Look round the land, 
and your lordships cannot fail of perceiving that our fiercest free-will- 
ers are for the most part the freest livers, and that the belief of universal 
grace is, in too many instances, the turnpike road to universal sin.'— 
P. 27S. In accordance with these views, Toplady. at a later day, quo- 
ted as an illustration of the demoralizing influence of Arminianism, 
fairly carried out, the case of a zealous advocate of the system, who, 
' when he was in fit of intemperance, if any one reminded him of the 
wrath of God, threatened against such courses, he would answer, 1 I 
am a child of the devil to-day, but I have free will, and to-morrow I will 
make myself a child of God.' — Works, p. 759. 

The Parliamentary Committee! on Church Patronage, in 1834, on 
reporting the result of their labors to the Legislature, remark, ' No sen- 
timent has been so deeply impressed on the mind of your committee, 
in the course of their long and laborious investigation, as that of vene- 
ration and respect, for the established church of Scotland. They be- 
lieve that no institution has ever existed, which, at so little cost, has 
accomplished so much good. The eminent place which Scotland holds 
in the scale of nations, is mainly owing to the purity of the standards, 
and the zeal of the ministers of its church, as well as the wisdom with 
which its internal institutions have been adapted to the habits and in- 
terests of the people.' 

Graham, in his History of the United States, gives a similar testimo- 
ny to the working of the system in New England, after it had been long 
in operation.!: ' Perhaps no country in the world was ever more dis- 
tinguished than New England at that time, for the general prevalence 
of those sentiments and habits, that render communities respectable 
and happy. Sobriety and industry pervaded all classes of the inhabi- 
tants. The laws against immorality of every description, were re- 
markably strict, and not less strictly executed; and being cordially 
supported by public opinion, they were able to render every vicious 
and profligate excess equally dangerous and infamous to the perpetra- 

* In Lorimer, ib : d, p. 281. 
t Lorimer, p. z5d. 

% In Lorimer, on the Eldership, p. 155. 



APPENDIX. 



313 



tor. There was not a single beggar in the whole province. The gen- 
eral diffusion of education caused national advantages, which were 
thus vigorously improved, to be justly appreciated, and an ardent and 
enlightened patriotism knit the hearts of the people to each other and 
to the country.' 

' The effects of puritanism,' says Bancroft,* 'display its true char- 
acter still more distinctly. Ecclesiastical tyranny is of all kinds the 
worst; its fruits are cowardice, idleness, ignorance, and poverty. Pu- 
ritanism was a life-giving spirit 5 activity, thrift, intelligence, followed 
in its train ; and as for courage, a coward and a puritan never went to- 
gether. ' He that prays best, and preaches best, will fight best such 
was the judgment of Cromwell, the greatest soldier of his age. . . . The 
fanatic for Calvinism was a fanatic for liberty; and he defended his 
creed ; for, in the moral warfare for freedom, his creed was a part of 
his army, and his most faithful ally in the battle.' 

If confirmation of these statements be required, we have it in the 
present relative condition of the principal Protestant and Roman Ca- 
tholic countries. Compare Italy with Prussia ; compare Spain with 
England ; compare Mexico and the South American republics with, 
the United States. Compare Protestant Switzerland, Holland, Scot- 
land, the North of Ireland, the English Nonconformists, the New Eng- 
land States, and our Presbyterian communities here and there scatter- 
ed through the land — all Calvinistic in their faith — with any other 
states or communities on earth, where a different form of faith pre- 
vails, and their superior morality and intelligence must be apparent. 
The superiority of the protestant countries is known and read of all 
men. To what is it owing ? Not to physical causes, certainly ; for in 
these the Roman Catholic countries have the advantage. 

Villers,a Romanist, in his work on the Reformation, which obtained 
the prize offered by the National Institute of France, strongly confirms 
our assertion. After showing that Romanism engenders ' poverty, in- 
dolence, immorality, and all sorts of vices,' and the contrary effects of 
protestantism, he remarks, ' the contrastf of these indubitable effects 
of the two religions is more particularly perceptible in Germany and 
Switzerland, where the different territories which are intermixed, 
cause the traveller to pass continually from a Catholic to a Protestant 
country. Does he meet with a miserable mud cottage, covered with 
thatch, the fields badly kept, wretched rude peasants, and many beg- 
gars : he will be in little danger of erring, if he conjecture that he is in 
a catholic country. If, on the contrary, neat, pleasant houses are seen, 
offering the spectacle of affluence and industry, the fields well inclosed, 
a culture well understood, it is very probable that he is among protest- 
ants, anabaptists, or mennonites. Thus nature seems to change her 
aspect, as he who gives her laws enjoys his liberty more or less, and 
exercises all his powers in a greater or less degree : while, at the same 
time, nature appears to have delighted in endeavoring to bestow all her 
gifts upon the catholic nations which inhabit the finest countries of 
Europe. This singularity is very evident in the limited territory of 
Helvetia. Let the fertile plains of Solaire be compared with the much 
less favored soil of Argovia; the rocky sterile land, unprotected from 
the northern blasts, of the Pays de Vaud, with the magnificent Italian 
Switzerland, or the well sheltered Valais ; the territory of Neufchatel, 

* Hist, of United States, vol. i. pp. 462, 463. 
t Lond. 1805, p. 225. 

27 



314 



APPENDIX. 



with the fruitful fields of the country lately subjected to the Abbe of 
Saint Gall; and finally, even in the states of this monk-prince, let that 
portion which follows the Roman worship be compared with that, 
much smaller, which, under the protection of Zurich and Berne, has 
been able to adhere to the reform ; and it will every where appear that 
the activity and knowledge of man is superior to even the liberalities 
of prodigal nature, while all her benefits are as though they were lost, 
to idleness and want of care.' 

' It is a certain fact,' adds M. Villers,* 'that more crimes are com- 
mitted in catholic, than in protestant, countries. The author might 
instance many facts, which he has collected on this subject He will 
be satisfied with foreign authorities. Cit. Rebmann, president of the 
special tribunal of Mayenne, in his Coup-cTceil sur Vltat dcs quatres 
di'.partemem du Rhin. says, that the number of malefactors in the cath- 
olic and protestant cantons, is in the proportion of four, if not six, to 
one. At Augsburgh, the territory of which offers a mixture of the 
two religions, of nine hundred and forty-six malefactors, convicted in 
the course of ten years, there were only one hundred and eighty-four 
protestants; that is to say, less than one in five. The celebrated phi- 
lanthropist, Howard, observed, that the prisons of Italy were inces- 
santly crowded ; at Venice, he has seen three or four hundred prisoners 
in the principal prison; at Naples, nine hundred and eighty in the 
succursal prison alone, called Vicaria; while he affirms, that the 
prisons of Berne are almost always empty; that in those of Lausanne 
he did not find any prisoner; and only three individuals in a state of 
arrest at Schaffhousen. Here are facts; I do not draw any conclu- 
sion.' 

Mr. Lorimer has taken great pains to collate the amount of crime in 
Scotland, as compared with that in England and Ireland. After 
showing that a large amount of the reported crimes in Scotland are 
mere misdemeanors, and a large amount committed by Irish Roman- 
ists, t he gives the results as follows: J ' To prevent Scottish chris- 
tians, owing to the loose statements which have been made of the 
unexampled progress of crime in this country, being disheartened in 
their labors, I may subjoin a comparative view of the state of crime 
in England and Wales. We have seen that the commitments for 
crime in Scotland, 

In the years 1832, were 2431, 
1836, " 2922, 
1840. " 3872. 
In the same years, the crime of England and Wales was, 
In 1832, 20,829 persons committed. 
1836, 20,984 

1840, 27,187 " " 
Now it appears, from the late census, that the population of Scotland 
is about one sixth of that of England and Wales. Were its crime in 
the same proportion, the Scottish criminals should, at the respective 
dates, have been 3471, 3497, 4531 ; instead of which, they were what 
has been stated; in other words, Scotland had less proportional crime 

* P. 224. Note. 

t See his work on the office of Deacon, Edinb. 1342, pp. 122- 132. 
$ Ibid. pp. 132, 133. See also his work on the Eldership, pp. 149-155. Glasg. 
1841. See also Sketch of the Presb. Ch. in England, pp. 14 and 41. 



APPENDIX. 



315 



than England, by 1040, 575, and 650, in the years refered to ; and that, 
though Scotland be a poorer country, and is a stranger to the English 
poor-law system, which by many is alleged to be a defence against 
crime, and though, probably, the influx of Irish v is proportionally 
greater into Scotland than into England. 

It would scarcely be fair to compare Scotland with Ireland; a pro- 
testant with a popish country. 1 may merely mention the numbers, 
without expatiating on them. For instance, in Ireland, 
In 1S32, there were 16,050 commitments. 

1836, " 23,891 

1840, M 23,822 " 

Scotland is nearly one third of the population of Ireland; were her 
criminals proportional in numbers, they should have been 5352 and 
7963, instead of 2431 and 2922. In other words, Ireland had, propor- 
tionally, for these years, 2921 and 5041 more criminals than Scotland. 
But perhaps the most striking fact is, that in 1837, the province of 
Ulster, the most protestant territory of Ireland, (still one half the pop- 
ulation is Roman catholic.) with a population somewhat less than 
Scotland, had not less than 5605 criminal commitments. In the same 
year, Scotland had 3126 commitments for crime ; in other words, pro- 
portionally, 2479 fewer criminals than the most prominent part of the 
sister country ! 

It is right, however, to state, that, while Ulster suffers in a compar- 
ison with Scotland, doubtless from its large Roman catholic popula- 
tion, it gains immensely, on comparison with any other part of Ireland. 
Thus the one county of Tipperary, in 1837, (population 402,563,) had 
4239 crimes, while the whole of the ten counties of Ulster, (popula- 
tion 2,314,104,) had, at the same time, as we have seen, 5605; and 
while in the Tipperary crimes there were one hundred and twenty- 
four homicides, many of those of Ulster were comparatively trifling. 
A few years before, too, the military expense of Ulster was only one 
twelfth of the general military cost; and of twenty-five regiments in 
Ireland, only two were stationed in that province, while its population 
was nearly a third of the whole population of the country.' 

The practical efficiency of presbyterianism in Ireland is remarkable* 
' What we give,' says the Rev. Mr. Denham of Londonderry, 'to the 
state in return for our endowment is that sound christian education, 
which secures the peace and the prosperity of the country, and 
secures it, too, at an expense vastly less than by any other means hith- 
erto discovered. On examination, it will be found, that the endow- 
ment given to the presbyterian church in this country, has been, in 
place of expenditure, a direct and positive economy. If you take up 
the expense of the constabulary for the past year, you will find it 
small in the counties of Ulster in proportion to the number of pres- 
byterians inhabiting those counties. Thus, for instance, in the coun- 
ty of Cavan, where there are few presbyterians, the cost of the con- 
stabulary to each inhabitant, is 10}-£d., while in Down, the cost to each 
is only 5^d. In Termanagh, where there are few presbyterians, the 
cost to each is 9%d., while in Derry, it is not 53^d. Again, compar- 
ing the cost on the whole province with that on the other provinces, 
it would be to each inhabitant of Ulster, 7%d., and to each in the rest 
of the kingdom, 1 s. 5^d., making a saving in Ulster of a sum not less 



* Plea for Presbytery, pp. 409,410. 



316 



APPENDIX. 



than £88,833 18s. 10d.* The jail expense to each inhabitant of the 
rest of the kingdom, is 2%. Thus saving, on the whole inhabitants 
of Ulster, £7138 16s. 8d., making a saving on those two items of con- 
stabulary and jails, of £95,972, 15s. 8d., being nearly three times the 
amount paid to all the presbyterian clergy in Ireland. 

' The unfortunate persons sentenced to transportation, are sent from 
all the northern counties to the hulk at Kingstown, previous to embark- 
ation. Out of 3013 who were there in the five years from 1830, only 
77 were presbyterians, that is only 1 in every 39. Now each costs 
the government about £100, or on the whole number £301,300, so that 
here, by the peculiarly virtuous, and industrious, and peacable habits of 
our people, there is another very large sum saved to the nation every 
year. Allow me here to quote a sentence from a letter transmitted 
by Lord Normanby, secretary to the colonies, to a commission of the 
church of Scotland, dated June, 1839 : ' while it was recently found 
necessary (in New South Wales) to appoint Episcopalian and Roman 
Catholic chaplains for the jails and penal settlements, it was allowed 
on all hands, that there was no necessity for the appointment of pres- 
byterian chaplains for these establishments, the number of criminals 
of this communion in the colony, being quite insignificant.' In the 
seven years from 1828. two hundred and fifty-six persons were hung 
in Ireland, while by a strict examination of all the jails in Ulster, I 
have discovered that in the twelve years which have now nearly 
elapsed since 1828, only four presbyterians were executed. It were 
evidently impossible to make any calculation as to what each of these 
unfortunate persons cost the kingdom, not merely in the retarding of 
improvement, and preventing the flow of capital into the country, but 
even in the mere expense of apprehension, imprisonment, judges, 
queen's counsel, attornies, executioners, &c. But the sum between 
the loss and the actual expense, must have been enormous. Yet in 
this item of expenditure, the presbyterian proportion is so small as 
scarcely to be named. 

' Thus have I shown, by a reference to facts and figures, that if the 
government give the presbyterian church a small endowment, it is 
not necessary for her, in order to make an honest and adequate return, 
to barter away, or part with one fraction of the liberty wherewith 
Christ has made her free. She makes to the state an ample return in 
the form of an immense saving of the public funds secured, and of 
many and most valuable benefits conferred.' 

We may well, therefore, conclude with Budin, the celebrated 
French writer, though a papist, who affirms that the commonwealth 
which maintains this discipline, will certainly flourish in virtue and 
piety.f 

* Again, the jail expense to each inhabitant in Ulster, is lfd. 
t In Milton's Prose Wks. vol. i. p. 132. On the influence of Presbyterianism among 
the "Waldenses, see Dr. Gilly's Waldensian Researches, pp. 145, 169. 



NOTES. 



Episcopacy and Republicanism. — Mr. Bartlett, in his Memoirs 
of Bishop Butler, speaking of his plan for introducing the episcopate 
into this country, says : (p. 123.) 4 It is much to be regretted, that the 
deliberations of the government, upon this reasonable and important 
measure, should have terminated without its adoption. It is said to 
have been the opinion of that distinguished statesman, Mr. Pitt, that, 
had the church of England been efficiently established in the United 
States,-it was highly probable, that those States would not have been 
separated from Great Britain.' ' We can easily believe,' adds the 
Churchman's Monthly Review, 'that, if this design had been carried 
into execution, or if the noble undertaking of Berkeley had- not been 
arrested by Walpole, the United States might, at this day, have been a 
well-ordered possession of the British crown.' 

On the dangerous influence of Romanism, we add the following 
article from the N. Y. Observer, with the remarks of Mr. Durbin : 

Power of Romanism in the United States. — There is a 
class of christians and newspapers — very good ones, too, in many 
respects — who treat all apprehensions of danger to our country and 
her institutions, from the spread of Romanism, as entirely visionary. 
They are so firmly persuaded that Americans can never regard the 
solemn follies of saint-worship, the mass, absolution, &c, otherwise 
than as ridiculous, that they are ready to smile at the simplicity of 
those who look upon the growing influence of papacy as an object of 
dread. Others are quite panic-struck, in view of the open avowal and 
bold defence of some of the worst features of popery among us. 

Our own view of this subject is, perhaps, equally remote from both 
these extremes. While we would not indulge alarm, we believe there 
is reason for watchfulness. What the efforts of Roman Catholics have 
accomplished, in modifying the public schools of New York and Phil- 
adelphia, our readers already know. They know, also, that the enter- 
ing wedge of popish influence will be inserted in every seam and 
crevice in the foundation of that great protestant republican edifice, 
which our puritan ancestors reared at such vast expense of toil and 
suffering. The success of these efforts will be limited only by the 
want of ability in those who make them. It may be well, then, to 
inquire, what is the relative ability of Romanism in the United States ? 

The catholic population of this country is estimated at nearly 
one million, four hundred thousand, and is, therefore, about one twelfth 
of the numerical strength of our nation. 

Unfortunately, the remaining portion is, and probably will continue 
to be, divided into two great parties; and these parties are so nearly 
balanced, that Romanism can decide any question it chooses. How 
this may be done, will appear from the following facts. 

The population of the United States was, in J 840, about seventeen 
millions. In the presidential election of that year, the whole number 
of votes cast was two millions four hundred and two thousand five 
hundred and six; that is, more than every seventh inhabitant was an 

• 27* 



318 



NOTES. 



actual voter. If the same ratio be extended to the catholic popula- 
tion, it assigns to them two hundred thousand votes. What a tre- 
mendous power, if it be but put forth, to decide the balanced elections 
of our country! The political enthusiasm which animated the suc- 
cessful party, in the election referred to, was great, beyond all prece- 
dent, and the majority was the largest ever known in our political 
history; and yet it was only about one hundred and fifty thousand. It 
will be seen, then, by comparing this 150,000 majority with the 
200,000 votes which Catholics can cast, that Rome may hold the 
balance of power on any great national question, and still have 
50,000 votes to spare ! 

And we may not flatter ourselves that any important movement 
takes place here, without its bearings being well considered in the 
Vatican. Let an emergency arise, in which his Holiness at Rome 
shall think it worth his while to interfere, and swift as a telegraphic 
despatch an unseen signal will be made across the ocean, and repeated 
over our land ; and all factions and subdivisions among Romanists in 
America will be merged, and the whole mass, under their spiritual 
leaders, will come up to the polls in a solid phalanx. The great 
party chieftains — whose trade is politics — who live and move and 
have their being for objects of selfish ambition — will not be slow to 
perceive and to conciliate this papal influence. For the sake of its 
vote, en masse, they will give it — not at once, but little by little — the 
stand-points it demands ; and when it gains these, then it will throw 
off the mask, and hold up its proud front, and ask no favors. 

It is in this way that we fear Romanism will grow into a dangerous 
element in our republic. And the obvious defence of our country is, 
not in the nature of the government, the present intelligence of the 
people, or the patriotism of political men — but in the life and activity 
of our Protestant churches ; in the zeal of our light-bearing institu- 
tions of benevolence — the Bible, Tract, Sunday School, and Mission- 
ary Societies ; in the prayers of the pious ; and above all, and through 
all these, in the energy of that Holy Spirit, who is able to bring com- 
munities, as well as individuals, to know the truth as it is in Jesus. 

Republicans be Warned. — Mr. Durbin, the eminent Methodist 
minister, now in England, writes thus to the editor of the Christian 
Advocate: — ' This question of Apostolic Succession involves much 
more than the conflict between the 'Established Church' and the 
interests of dissent in any and every form. My travels on the conti- 
nent, and my observations and inquiries in England, fully satisfy me, 
that there is a close connection between this claim of divine exclusive 
apostolic succession, and the claim of monarchs to rule, jure divino, to 
be 'kings by the grace of God.' For, beyond all question, the prin- 
ciple of the hierarchy has a very warm sympathy with monarchy ; 
and this fact has been well expressed by ' no bishop, no king.' 
Hierarchy and monarchy are about to make common cause in 
Europe, and then, if successful, the match is to be applied to the 
explosive elements collecting in America, in the form of foreigners, 
adopting our country, but retaining their European principles, and in 
the form of 'apostolical succession,' by which men propose to claim 
the exclusive right to administer the sacraments of the church. The 
principles of these two sympathetic powers" are the same ; the one 
claims to rule the church by a divine right, and the other to rule the 
people jure divino. They have learned wisdom by experience, and 
neither will claim to be supreme, but agree to be coordinate and con- 
current, and to rule mankind as their common patrimony.' 



INDEX. 



A. 

Adams, Hon. John Quincy, 24. 
Aiton, Dr. Life of Henderson, 55, 
119, &c. 

Anderson's Defence of Presbyterian- 
ism, 252. 
Arnold, Dr. 51. 

Allsop's Melius Inquirendum, 36. 
Archer, Mr. 27. 

Arminianism associated with arbi- 
trary power, 175, 176. 
Armstrong, Rev. C. E. 199. 
Arnold of Brescia, account of, 105. 



B. 

Baird's visit to Northern Europe, 
113. 

Baltimore Lit. and Relig. Magazine, 
66, 222. 

Bancroft's Hist, of the United States, 
57, 59, 72. 

* Bastwick's Utter Routing, 232, 247. 
Baxter on Episcopacy, 17. 
Baxter's Disputations on Church 

Govt. 36, 73, 227; &c. 
Bellarmine, 182. 
Biblical Repertory, 102. 
Bigotry explained, 205. 
Bisset's Sketch of Democracy, 25. 
Blackburn's Intermediate State, 133. 
Blair's Waldenses, 242, &c. 
Blondel, 242. 

Bolingbroke's Idea of a Patriot King, 
129. 

Breckinridge and Hughes's Discus- 
sion, 56, 58, 62, 86, &c. 

Brooke, Lord, on Episcopacv, 17, 
18, 255. 

Brooke's Hist, of Religious Liberty, 

16, 108, 109. 
Brougham's Political Philosophy, 23, 

24, 26, 69, 78. 



Brown's Vindication of Presbyte- 
rian Ch. Govt. 55, 80. 
Brownlee, Dr. 182. 
Brydges, Sir Egerton, 115. 
Buchanan, 120. 
Bull, Bishop, 291, &c. 
Burgess, Bishop, Tracts, 288.' 
Burnet's Hist, of Ref. 137. 

C. 

Calvinism, republican, 54, &c. 175. 
Calvin, taught the independence of 

the Church from the State, 95, 

124, a republican, 115. 
Campbell's Vind. of the Presb. Ch. 

in Ireland, 17. 
Candlish, Dr. 240, 249. 
Card well's Documentary Annals, 

134. 

Carne, McAlexander, quoted. 19. 
Carlyle's Lectures on Heroes, 108, 

112, 119, &c. 
Catholicity of Presbytery, 271, &c. 
Chandler, Dr. Appeal, 153. 
Chandler, Dr. 249. 
Chalmers's Biographical Diet. 120. 
Chalmers, Dr. 125, 252. 
Charleston Courier, The, 29. 
Charleston Gospel Messenger, 202. 
Charlotte Elizabeth, 158. 
Christian Advocate, The, 148. 
Christian Advocate, Southern, 148, 

&c. 

Christianity Indep. of the Civil Govt. 

The, quoted, 16, 28. 
Christianity not identified with any 

form of civil government, 13, 15,&c. 
Christianity independent of the civil 

polity, 14, 15. 
Christianity, its doctrines, republican, 

38, &c. 

Christianity, its institutions repub- 
lican, 43. 



320 



INDEX. 



Christian Register, The, 163. 
Church, The, liberality of the pres- 

byterian doctrine concerning, 239. 
Church, The Christian, republican, 

38, &c. 

Church and State, presbyterians se- 
cured the separation of, in this 
country, 194, Szc. 

Churchman's The, Monthly Review, 
74, 157, 255. 

Civil government not identified with 
Christianity, 13, 15, &c. 

Claude's Defence of the Reforma- 
tion, 66, 70, 73, &c. 

Clinton, The Hon. Mr. 50. 

Coleridge's Church and State, 255. 

Coleridge's Aids to Reflection, 268. 

Collier's Eccles. Hist. ISO. 

Colton's Reasons, 255. 

Conder's Analytic View of all Relig. 
67. 

Confession of Faith, 15. 
Constitution, The, and Canons of the 

Protestant Episcopal Ch. by Dr. 

Hawks, 158, &c. 
Cooper, Rev. Edward, 313. 
Corbet's Remains, 244. 
Cotton's Keys of the Kingdom of 

Heaven, 53. 
Crabbe's Synonymes, 214. 
Cramp's Text Book of Poperv, 181, 

261. 

Creeds, republicanism of, 88. 
Culdees, The, republican, 104. 
Cummincrs's Apology for the Ch. of 
Scotl. 291, 292. 



D. 

D'Aubigne's Hist, of the Ref. 113. 
Dalcho's Hist, of Prot. Ep. Ch. in 

S. C. 156. 
Degerando, Baron, 213. 
Dryden, 120, 137. 
Duffield's Letters, 162. 
Duncan, Dr. 209. 

E. 

Ecclesiastical polity, influence of on 
civil, 20, 21. 

Eclectic Review, 118. 

Edinburgh Review, 124, 128, 211. 

Efficiency of presbyterianism in se- 
curing morality and preventing 
crime, 311. 

Emmons's Wks. Dr. 208. 

Encyclopedia Britannica, 312. 

England, republicanism in, history 
of, 127. 



England, reformation of, not popular, 

128. 

England, Bishop, his anti-republic- 
anism, 193, 194. 

Episcopal Church, The Protestant, 
less republican than the presbyte- 
rian, 153. 

Episcopacy and monarchy, essen- 
tially related, 154. 

F. 

Faber on the Reformation, 174. 

Firmin's Separation Examined, 244. 

Forms and formality, republicanism 
opposed to, 91. 

Foreign Conspiracy against the Uni- 
ted States, 20, 188. 

Fulke, 294. 

G. 

Geneva, its republicanism, 113. 

Gillespie's Aaron's Rod Blossom- 
ing, 55, 138. 

Godwin's History of the Common- 
wealth, 131. 

Graham's Hist, of the United States, 
315. 

Guizofs Hist, of Civilization, 131. 
Guthrie's Causes of God's Wrath, 
121. 

H. 

Hamilton on Missions, 286. 

Hamilton, The Papers, 25. 

Hanbury's Memorials, 138. 

Hawks's Constitution and Canons of 
Prot Epis. Ch. 171, &c. 

Henry, Mathew, his liberality, 247. 

Herschel's Letter to Sibthorp, 279. • 

Hewett's Hist, of S. Carolina, 62. 

High Church Prelacy anti-repub- 
lican, 173, &c. 

History of Switzerland, 114. 

History of the Covenanters, 126, 
243. 

History, The, of the English and 
Scotch Presbytery, 136. 

Hodse, Dr. History of the Presby- 
terian Church, 54, 124, 139, 291. 

Hoffman's Anglo- Prussian Bisho- 
pric, 179. 

Horsley, 115. 

Howe, his liberality, 247. 

How's Vindication of the Prot. Ep. 
Ch. 202, 218. &c. 

Hooker's Eccl. Polity, 78. 

Huber, 179. 

Hughes, Bishop, 86, 187. 
Huss, a republican, 106, 107. 



INDEX. 



321 



I. 

Ibbot, Dr. Boyle's Lectures, 204. 
Indifference, the doctrine of expos- 
ed, 206. 

Ireland, efficiency of presbytery in 

preventing- crime in, 318. 
Irving-, Edward, 120, 126, 252. 



J. 

Jahn's Hebrew Commonwealth, 31, 
32. 

Jahn's Archeeology, 32, 33. 

James King, his writings quoted, 121. 

Jameson's Fundamentals of the Hie- 
rarchy, 17. 

Jameson's Cyprianus Isotimus, 77, 
111. 

Jefferson's "Works, 27. 
Jones, Rev. J. 313. 
Jones, Rev. William, 81. 
Junkin, Dr. Inaugural Address, 89. 
Jus Divinum Ministerii Evangelici, 
214. 

Jus Divinum Regiminis Ecclesias- 
tici, 244. 

Justification by faith, influence of in 
the promotion of freedom, 56, &c. 
Jus Populi, 121. 

K. 

Keble on Tradition, 50. 
Kent's Commentaries, 29, 79, 83, 85, 
86. 

Knox a republican, in spirit, 119. 
L. 

Lamv's Biblical Apparatus, 33. 
Lancey, Dr. Bishop, 169, 170. 
Lang, Dr. Religion and Education 

in America, 53, 96, 97, &c. 
Laud, Archbishop, on the Liturgy 

and Episc. 136. 
Lathbury's History of the English 

Episcopacy, 67. 
Latitudinarianism exposed, 206. 
Lectures on the Headship of Christ, 

16, 67, 86, 124. 
Liberality, the nature of explained, 

203, &c. 

Locke on Government, 24, 25, 27, 33, 

84, 85, &c. 
London Tablet, The, 188. 
London Quarterly Review, 68, 164, 

283. 

Loriiner's Manual of Presbytery, 17, 
86, 233. 

Loyalty of Presbyterians, 16, 17. 



M. 

Macauley's Miscellanies, 129, &c. 
Mackenzie's Hist, of the Christ. Ch. 
125. 

Mackintosh's Hist, of England, 50,58. 
Maurice's Kingdom of Christ, 125. 
McCrie, Dr. Life of Knox, 110. 
McCrie, Dr. Life of Melville, 20, 21, 
55, 134. 

McCrie, on the Unity of the Church, 
63. 

McLeod, Rev. John, 141. 
McLeod. Dr. 249. 

Melville, his republican character, 

and writings, 125. 
Mennais, Abbe de la, 209. 
Methodist Episcopal Church, less 

republican than the Presbyterian, 

148. 

Michaelis, 33, 34. 

Milman's Hist, of Christianity, 36. 
Milner's Life of Watts, 138. 
Miller, Dr. on the Ministry, 55. 
Miller, Dr. Life of Dr. Rogers, 144, 
155. 

Milton's Prose Wks. 17, 72, 93, 198, 
&c. 

Minorities protected by presbyteri- 
anism, 88. 

Mitchell's Letters to Bishop Skin- 
ner, 252. 

Montesquieu's Spirit of Laws, 23. 
Muir, Dr. quoted, 81, 243. 

N. 

Naphtali, 121. 

Neal's History of the Puritans, 54. 
138. 

Neander's History of the Planting of 

Christianity, 36, 49. 
Newman on Romanism and Dissent, 

291. 

Nichols, Dr. 180. 

Nolan's Catholic Character of Chris- 
tianity, 173, 174. 
Notes of the Church Examined, 216. 

O. 

Ordination, the presbyterian doctrine 
of, republican, 73, &c. and liberal, 
227, &c. m 

Our Liberties Defended, 188. 

Owen, Dr. 54. 

Oxford Tracts, 205, 255. 

P. 

Paget's Def. of Presb. Ch. Govt. 76, 

232. 



322 



INDEX. 



Palmer on the Church, 209. 

Parliamentary Committee on the ef- 
ficiency of presbytery, 314. 

Pascal's Thoughts, 25. 

Patrick Welwood, 126. 

Paul, Father, Hist, of Benefices, 36. 

Perceval's Roman Schism, 261. 

Pictorial History of England, 108. 

Poperv, on the anti-republicanism 
of, 161, &c; illiberality of, 257 ; 
anathematizing spirit of, 261 ; not 
catholic, 2S1. 

Powell, Professor, of Oxford, 23S. 

Predestination, influence of on free- 
dom, 59, 60. 

prelacy and monarchy essentially 
connected, 156 ; Romish and An- 
glican, the illiberality of, 254, &c; 
indifferent to truth and bigoted as 
to forms. 255 ; not catholic, 281. 

Prelates, opposition to in America, 
155. 

Presbytery, the term defined, 13 ; 
what denominations are included 
under it, 13, 52, 53 ; republican in 
its doctrines, 54, 175, &c; neither 
a monarchy, nor an aristocracy, 61 ; 
republican in its principles, 65 ; 
in its doctrine of the ministry, 67 ; 
and ruling elders, 75 ; in its eccle- 
siastical judicatories, 79 ; in its his- 
tory, ch. iii. ; more republican than 
other forms of polity, ch. iv.; catho- 
licity of, 271, &c. 

Presbyterian Church, liberality of, 
215 ; not persecuting, 231 ; both 
liberal and orthodox, 239. 

Presbyterian Review, The, 10S, 124, 
252. 

Presbyterianism Defended, quoted, 

55. 

Preston, The Hon. Mr. 28. 

Price, Dr. Hist of Protestant Non- 

conf. 63, 132, 136, 175, &c. 
Pridham's Church Reform, 302. 
Pritchard's Researches, 32. 
Prynne's Lordly English Prelacy, 17. 
Pulpit, power of the, in promoting 

freedom, 55. 
Puritans, The, their republicanism, 

128, 129, &c. 
Pusey, Dr. 293, 

Q. 

Questions and Answers on the Me- 
thodist Protestant Church, 19. 

R. 

Reformation, The, the development 
of republicanism, 108. 



Reid, Dr. Hist, of Presb. Ch. in Ire- 
land, 138. 

Reed, Mr. William B. 143, 146. 

Republic defined, 23.24. 

Republicanism, the principles of, 
23, &c. 

Rice, Dr. Illustrations of the Char. 

and Cond. of the Presb. Ch. 103. 
Rice, Dr. Evang. Magazine, 61. 
Rice, Dr. Considerations on Relig. 

142. 

Riddle's Christian Antiquities, 49. 
Riddle's Eccles Chronology, 35. 
Rogers's Life of Howe, 138. 
Romish Church, The, not Catholic, 
281. 

Ruling Elders, The office of, repub- 
lican, 75, &c. 
Rutherford's Lex Rex, 121. 
Rutherford's Plea, 138. 

S. 

Sacraments, liberality of the presby- 
terian doctrine on, 224, &c. 

Schism, by Dr. Hoppus, 242. 

Scott, Rev. Thomas, 133. 

Scott's Continuation of Milner, 113. 

Scottish Christian Herald, 55. 

Scotland, republican party and spirit 
in, 125, 126 ; efficiency of presby- 
tery in, 318, &c. 

Seeker, Archbishop, 154. 

Second Book of Discipline, The, 15. 

Shakspeare, 257, 

Shield's Hind Let Loose, 121. 

Soames's Elizab. Rel. Hist. 138. 

South's Sermons, ISO. 

Southey's Book of the Church, 180. 

Spring, Dr. Obligations of the 
AVorld to the Bible, 34, 50, 51. 

Strype, 136. 

Swift, Dean, Sermons, 136. 
Sydney, Algernon, 26, 31, 33, 147. 
Syon's Royal Prerogative, 22. 

T. 

Taylor's Ancient Christianity, 169. 
Taylor, Isaac, Spiritual Despotism, 
138. 

Tavlor, Isaac, Pref. to Life of Luther, 
57. 

Tavlor, Dr. Biog. of the Age of 
Elizabeth, 117, 133. 

The Case of the Accommodation 
Examined, 161. 

The Church in the Army, 313. 

Tocqueville's Democracy in Amer- 
ica, 19, 22, 23, 25, 29, 30, 75. &c. 

Topladv, 311,314. 

Turreline, 242. 



INDEX. 



323 



u. 

United Slates, the republicanism of 
owing greatly to presbyterians, 
138, &c. 

Universal suffrage, found in presby- 
terianism, 88. 

V. 

Vail's Comprehensive Church, 19. 
Vaughan's Life of Wickliffe, 105. 
Vaughan's, Dr. Congregationalism, 
25, 54. 

Villers on the Reformation, 25, 67, 
92, &c. 

Virginia, Synod of, their resolutions 
on liberality, 220, &c. 

W. 

Waddington's Church History, 36. 
Webster, Hon. Daniel, 50. 



"Welles, Rev. Noah, liberality of, 248. 
Whateley. Archbishop, Charges and 

Tracts, 208. 
Whateley's Bampton Lectures, 208, 

211. 

Whateley's Christianity Independ. 

of the Civil Power, 208. 
Whateley's Kingdom of Christ, 211. 
White, Rev. Hugh, 312. 
White, Bishop, 19, 36, 90, 155. 
Whits-ift, Archbishop. 159. 
Wickliffe, a republican, 106, 107. 
Wilson, Dr. Mem. of Bishop White, 

155. 

Wilson, Bishop, Sacra Privata, 164. 
Wilson's Hist. Inq. concerning the 

English Presbyterians, 245. 
Woodgate's Bampton Lect. 138, 179 
Wragg's Poem on ' The Deity,' 

811. 



FINIS. 



THE 

PRELATICAL DOCTRINE 

OF 

APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION 

EXAMINED, 

AND THE PROTESTANT MINISTRY DEFENDED AGAINST THE 
ASSUMPTIONS OF POPERY AND HIGH CHURCHISM, 

In a Series of Lectures. 

BY THOMAS SMYTH, 

Pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church, Charleston, S. C. 



CRITICAL NOTICES. 
Overture adopted by the Synod of S. Carolina and Geo. at its session in 1841. 

That the publication of works intended to advocate the distinctive order and 
polity of our church should be encouraged, and their circulation among our 
people rendered as general as possible ; and it having come to the knowledge of 
this Synod, that one of their number, the Rev. Thomas Smyth, of Charleston, 
has recently given to the Church, among other valuable publications, ' An Eccle- 
siastical Catechism of the Presbyterian Church, for the use of Families, Bible 
Classes, and Private Members,' — and a series of lectures on 'The Prelatical 
Doctrine of Apostolical Succession Examined, and the Protestant Ministry 
Defended against the Assumptions of Popery and High-Churchism.' Therefore, 
Resolved, That the Synod of South Carolina and Georgia regard with pleasure 
and approbation these publications, as containing an able defence of the divine 
authority of the Protestant Ministry, and a full and satisfactory exposition of the 
order and government of our Church ; and as demanded by the present state of 
the controversy on these subjects. And the Synod does, therefore, cordially 
recommend the said publications to all our Ministers, Elders, and private mem- 
bers, as works of high value, and calculated to advance the intelligence of our 
Church, on our distinctive peculiarities and doctrines. 

Extract from a review of the work in the Biblical Repertory, for Jan'y, 1841. 

1 This book does no small credit to the industry and talent of the author. The 
importance of his subject, the correctness of his views, and the abundance of 
materials which he seems to have had at his command, entitle his performance to 
the most respectful notice. The author's mind is not only strong but lively, and 
his book exhibits traces of both qualities. The natural, (and may we not say,) 
national, vivacity with which he seizes on his topics and discusses them, 
enlivens in a very satisfactory degree even those parts of the subject which 
might otherwise have proved most irksome and fatiguing. In a word, the book, 
(which by the way is elegantly printed,) may be freely commended to the favor- 
able notice of the public ; and we doubt not that wherever it is read it will be 
useful, in apprising those who read it what the high church doctrine really is, and 
on what grounds it may be most triumphantly and easily refuted.' 



2 



CRITICAL NOTICES. 



From the Southern Christian Advocate. 

c Wc have the pleasure to announce the probable publication of these Lec- 
tures at no distant day. As far as opportunity has allowed it, we have attended 
Mr. Smyth's course, and been both pleased and edified. Pleased, in witnessing 
a fine combination of candor, kindness, and strength, in the discussion of difficult 
and soul-rousing questions. Edified, in listening to a vigorous discussion of 
important first principles, where the lecturer was master of his thesis, and 
backed his reasoning by extensive authority of the highest value in this contro- 
versy. This volume, in which the Prelatic Doctrine of Apostolical Succession 
is considered, will be highly valuable to the theological student.' 

From the Christian Intelligencer, of the Reformed Dutch Church, N. Y. 

' This is an exceedingly neat volume of five hundred and sixty-eight pages, 
beautiful in its mechanical execution, and upon a subject of grave and exciting 
importance. The work is seasonable, and from the cursory examination which 
we have as yet been able to give to it, we believe that it will prove to be exceed- 
ingly valuable. The work before us, at the present crisis, is seasonable and 
necessary. It is more ample in its discussion than any that preceded it. It is 
the result of much and patient research, and will be found to reflect credit alike 
upon the talents and learning, and we will add also, the temper of the author. 
He has rendered the Protestant community a debtor. We desire that the work 
may have the widest circulation, and receive the careful perusal both of Episco- 
palians and Christians of every other name.' 

From the Christian Advocate and Journal, of the Methodist Church, N. Y. 

' This is a large octavo volume. The author makes thorough work of his 
subject, examining the pretensions of Prelacy with care and candor, and expos- 
ing their fallacy with unanswerable force and perspicutity. He gives the claims 
which are set up by Popery and High-Churchmen in their own language, and 
refutes them by arguments drawn from reason, church history, and Scripture. 
The Christian world seems to be waked up anew to the high and exclusive 
claims of Prelacy by the astounding assumptions of the Oxford divines ; and 
we admit that such a book as that before us seems to be called for by the occa- 
sion, and will no doubt be read with great interest.' 

From the New York Evangelist. 

' A large and elegant octavo volume, on a most important topic. Its object is 
the examination of the claims of the Popish hierarchy, and of that portion of the 
clergy and laity of the Episcopal Church which sympathizes with them, to the 
exclusive right to the functions and privileges of the Christian ministry and 
Church. These claims, always unscriptural, have of late assumed new arro- 
gance and vigor, by the brief currency of the Oxford publications, and the 
greatly quickened zeal of the Papacy among us. The time has certainly arrived 
when their exclusive notions should be subjected to the searching test of reason 
and scripture. If ihere are those among us who will vauhtingly assume lhat theirs 
is the only, the valid ministry, that with ihem are to be found the only author- 
ized ordinances of salvation, that there is no safety but within the pale of their 
own denomination; let their pretensions be sifted, and ihe emptiness of their 
claims be exposed by the clear light of truth. That such a contest with the 
principle of Prelacy is yet to be waged, and that it is to be abandoned, there can 
be no doubt. We hail every effort to throw light upon the subject Mr. Smyth 
has entered vigorously upon the field of controversy, and has spared neither 
pains or strength to do it justice. He has gone over the whole ground in a more 
extended manner than any writer before him in this country, and in an able 
manner.' 

From The Presbyterian. 

1 The volume before us contains a very full and minute discussion of the doc- 
trine indicated in its title, and is to be followed by another which will vindicate 
the claims of Presbylerianism. The necessity of the work arises from the 



\ 



CRITICAL NOTICES. 3 

increasing boldness and arrogance with which the Episcopal Church obtrudes 
its claims as the only true church, with the only valid ordinances, and the only 
divinely constituted ministry. As to the manner in which he has accomplished 
his task, we are disposed to judge very favorably, from the necessarily partial 
manner in which we have been able to examine his work. He has acquired a 
clear and distinct view of the question discussed in all its bearings, and to each 
specific point he has brought a mind stored with the fruits of extensive reading. 
We have admired the extent of his research, and his diligence in learning all 
that had been said by preceding writers which could throw light on the discus- 
sion ; and indeed we have rather regarded him as too redundant in his authorities ; 
a fault, by the way, not often committed in this age of jumping at conclusions. 
Mr. Smyth states the question of Apostolic succession, so much in the mouth of 
modern Episcopalians, and he views it in all possible lights, weighs it in just 
balances, and pronounces it wanting. He not only proves that the assumption 
is unscriptural and unreasonable, but he traces the boasted succession, and 
shows its broken links, and finds after all the flourish of trumpets, that prelatists 
are glorying in a mere shadow. He carries the war, moreover, into the enemy's 
camp, and he carries oft" many trophies. Mr. Smyth is undoubtedly an able 
controversialist, and prelatists will find him well armed at all points, if they are 
disposed to attack.' 

From the Southern Christian Advocate. 

1 The work before us is, we believe, the first distinct treatise published in this 
country on the subject of the Apostolical Succession, and in opposition to its 
arrogant assumptions. A very ably argued and well written work has been 
recently given to the English public, entitled 'An Essay on Apostolical Succes- 
sion,' by the Rev. Thomas Powell, a Wesleyan minister, of which Mr. Smyth 
makes honorable mention. We consider, therefore, the publication of these 
Lectures as a valuable contribution to the religious literature of the time, 
demanded withal by the claims of that portion of our common Christianity, 
which is so unfortunate as to have no participation in the anointing oil of pre- 
latical consecration, and which lies beyond the range of apostolico-succession- 
covenant blessing. Mr. Smyth has executed his task in a candid, kind, and 
courteous spirit, while he has subjected the theory of Apostolical Succession to 
the scrutiny of a thorough, extensive, and fearless examination. Innumerable 
authorities are cited, and a copious index concludes the volume, which embraces 
upwards of five hundred and sixty-nine pages, and is gotten up in the finest 
finish of the typographical art.' 

From the Charleston Observer. 

1 Notice was taken of these Lectures while in course of delivery. They are 
now published, and with the notes, which contain as much reading as the text, 
make a large volume of five hundred and sixty-eight pages. The typographical 
execution is in the best modern style, from the press of Crocker and Brewster, 
Boston. Our design, at present, is simply to apprise our readers that the work 
is published, intending at our leisure to give it a more formal notice. As the 
basis of the opinion controverted, rests upon what is familiarly known as the 
Apostolical Succession, it is here that the author has exhibited his chief strength. 
And were we to say that he has made good his position, it might be regarded as 
only a judgment expressed in accordance with previously existing prejudices in 
its favor. But we hope, on the other hand, that none will undertake to condemn 
it unread. The advocates of High-Churchism, whether Roman or Anglican, 
are chiefly concerned in the discussion, and possibly they may find in the work 
something that will moderate their exclusive zeal, and lead them to the exercise 
of more charity for the opinions of those from whom they differ.' 

From The Presbyterian. 

' Mr. Editor : — I ask room in your paper to commend this work to the attention 
of the ministers and intelligent laymen of our Church. If there be any among 
them who doubt whether a work of this sort was called for, their doubts wiU 
not survive the reading of the first Lecture, entitled ' The Necessity for an Exam- 



4 



CRITICAL NOTICES. 



ination into the Prelatical Doctrine of Apostolical Succession.' The discussion, 
therefore, in which Mr. Smyth has embarked, was provoked by the growing 
disposition among High-Church Episcopalians, to unchurch the Presbyterian 
body, and challenge exclusive salvation to the members of churches under 
Diocesan Bishops. His work is not an attack, but a defence — a defence con- 
ducted with great ability and skill. I venture to commend it to the notice of 
your readers, because I am satisfied they will be instructed and profited by the 
perusal of it. The lectures are evidently the result of much study, and very 
extensive research. No single volume I have seen, contains such a mass of 
authorities and seasonable testimonies, on the Prelatical controversy as this 
work. It is equally creditable to the author's talents and industry, that he should 
have found time to prepare, in the midst of his pastoral duties, an octavo of 
five hundred and fifty pages, on a subject requiring so much study, and involv- 
ing an examination of several hundred distinct works on either side of the con- 
troversy. Such labors ought not to go unrequited ; but his brethren will be ren- 
dering themselves and the cause of truth a substantial service, by placing it in 
their libraries ; and it is for this reason that their attention is invited to it by one 
who has no other concern in it than that which is common to every Presbyterian.' 

From the New York Observer. 

' A formidable volume this is in appearance, and on this very account will 
repel many who might otherwise be attracted to examine its pages. In a course 
of twenty-one lectures the author has, with great industry and research, and no 
mean ability as a controversialist, examined the question before him, and pre- 
sented, in the compass of a single book, a mass of testimony that must be of 
value to those whose time and means will not allow them to pursue the investi- 
gation through all the original sources, wliich Mr Smyth has so perseveringly' 
explored.' 

From the Watchman of the South. 

' We offer a few general remarks at present, intending at an early day to 
notice them, or at least that last named, far more fully than we usually do. One 
thing must strike every one who knows the history of the author of these works. 
We refer to his industry. Without very firm bodily health, and having a very 
laborious pastoral charge, he still economizes time sufficient to bring out, through 
the press, from lime to time, important contributions to the cause he loves This 
is as it should be. Mr. Smyth is, of course, a fro icing minister. His influence 
and usefulness are constantly extending. It is also oln-ious to any one who 
reads Mr. Smyth's works, that he has, or has the use of a very good library, and 
is a man of no mean learning. His works show the importance of ministers' 
salaries being such as to enable them to 'give themselves to reading.' But Mr. 
Smyth is not a mere reader. He arranges and uses what he reads. His char- 
acter as a writer rises every year. Mr. Smyth is also ardently attached to Pres- 
byterianism. Further remarks may be expected in a week or two.' 

From the Charleston Courier. 

' We would call the attention of all those who profess any regard for the 
literary character of our southern community, to a work recently published by 
our esteemed fellow-townsman, the Rev. Thomas Smyth, entitled ' Lectures on 
the Apostolical Succession. 1 Whatever may be the opinion of the intelligent 
reader on the subjects of which it treats, he will acknowledge it to be a striking 
example of extensive and profound research, and most diligent investigation. 
The author appears to have enjoyed some remarkable advantages in the prose- 
cution of his inquiries. Possessing, as he does, one of the best private libraries in 
this country — probably the most complete in the theological department — he has 
had access to an immense mass of authorities, not usually within the reach of 
the American scholar, and his abundant and voluminous references make his 
book an absolute index for the use of future writers. His industry, indeed, has 
left but scanty gleanings, as it would appear, for any who may desire to follow 
him in this discussion. His style is easy and animated, and the interest of the 
reader is kept up, widiout flagging, through an octavo of nearly six hundred 



CRITICAL NOTICES. 



5 



pages. We hope the success of this highly creditable effort may be such as to 
induce the learned and reverend author to complete his task, by giving promptly 
to the public the second volume of his course, promised in his preface.' 

From the Christian Observer. 

' From a cursory examination of this work, we think it well adapted to 
accomplish the good purposes for which it is designed It exposes and refutes 
the extravagant assumptions of High-Churchmen, who claim to be the succes- 
sors of the apostles in the ministry, exclusive of all those who reject their views 
of Prelacy. The work is worthy of a more extended notice, which shall be 
given at an early day.' 

From the Christian Watchman. (Boston — a Baptist paper.) 

f This volume has lain on our table a considerable time, to enable us to give it 
such an examination as the subject and the merits of the book demand. The 
discussion throughout is conducted with candor, impartiality, and kindness ; and 
displays no small share of ability, learning, and diligent research. It is deci- 
dedly the most able and thorough vindication of the Presbyterian view of the 
subject which we have ever seen. The discussion, too, is timely, when Epis- 
copal popery is receiving a new impulse from the Oxford writers, whose senti- 
ments find so much sympathy even in our own land. We commend the book, 
therefore, to the attention of our brethren in the ministry, not as taking in every 
instance that ground which we, as Baptists and Independents should prefer to 
see taken, but as an able defence of the truth, and an extensive collection of 
authorities and facts.' 

From the Christian Examiner and General Review, (Boston,) Nov. 1841. 

' We by no means intend to intimate that the work is ill-timed or superfluous. 
Such is not our opinion. We believe it will do good. It will meet the new 
phase of the controversy, and supply what we have no doubt is, in some parts of 
our country, a pressing want. Even the greatest absurdities, iterated and reit- 
erated in a tone of unblushing confidence, will gain some adherents. Besides, 
the old treatises on the subject are in a manner inaccessible to the general reader, 
and will produce a deeper impression, even if it be not more applicable, which 
in ordinary cases it will be, to the state of the times. The present volume we 
regard as not only suited to the times, but in itself a production of no trifling 
merit. It indicates great industry, and no little research on the part of the 
writer, and its statements appear, from such an examination as we have been 
able to give it, entitled to confidence. . . . There is an earnestness, good 
temper and thoroughness which mark the work, which we like, and we can 
very cordially commend it to the attention of all who feel an interest in the 
subject.' 

From the Southern Quarterly Review. 

' This is one of the ablest works of theological controversy, that has appeared 
during the present century, and we are happy to be able to add that it is the pro- 
duction of a Charleston clergyman. . . . We say then, in the outset, that the 
Presbyterian church has, in our opinion, in the author of the work before us, a 
powerful champion, who wields a polished pen, and one who seems to be emi- 
nently fitted, by his learning, his talents, and his industry, to maintain manfully 
the cause he has espoused. We have read his book with deep interest, and with 
great respect for his ability, and the general candor and fairness of his argu- 
ments.' [April, 1S43 : pp 534 — 537. 

From the Magnolia, a Literary Magazine and Monthly Review. 

' The Doctrine of Apostolical Succession is here examined in an elaborate 
course of Lectures, twenty-one in number, by the Rev. Thos. Smyth, Pastor of 
the Second Presbyterian Church in Charleston. It is not within our province to 
examine ihem. We can say nothing, therefore, of the question which Mr. 
Smyth discusses. No doubt he discusses it ably. He certainly discusses it ear- 



6 



CRITICAL NOTICES. 



nestly. He is ingenious and forcible, and displays a wonderful deal of industry 
and research. Here now is an octavo of near six hundred pages, brimful of 
study, and crowded with authorities. We perceive that Mr. Smyth wins the 
plaudit ' well done,' from numerous high sources, advocating the same doctrine 
with himself. They seem to think that his argument has done ample justice to 
his subject; and we may add, so far as we have been able to examine it, that it 
has been urged in a candid and Christian temper.' 

From , Attorney General in the State of — 

' Your Lectures I read with the highest satisfaction, and take great pleasure in 
acknowledging the obligations which I think the friends of Christian truth, reli- 
gious liberty, and I will add, of the pure undented gospel, owe to you for them. 
Your vindication of the Church, by which I mean the humble followers of our 
Lord, by whatever name called, from the claims of usurped ecclesiastical domi- 
nation, seems to me to be complete ; and whilst you have, in succession, 
destroyed and dissipated every ground of doubt on the subject, in the minds of 
the unprejudiced, your extensive and enlightened research and discrimination, 
have enabled you to furnish an armory, where every one may supply himself 
with weapons for defence against individual attack. Nor am I less gratified with 
the candid and charitable tone and temper with which your views are propounded, 
than with the overwhelming mass of argument and illustration by which they 
are demonstrated. Your lectures seem to me to have been written in a truly 
Christian spirit ; and if they have been cavilled at on that ground, it can only be 
because men always feel attacks upon their prejudices to be unkind.' 

From the New England Puritan. 

4 This large octavo, of five hundred and sixty-eight pages, is a highly seasona- 
ble offering to the Protestant Churches of our country, and displays an amount 
of learning, of research, of skill and power in argument, of fertility in illustration, 
of combined candor and earnestness of spirit, rarely to be met with in any volume 
either of home or foreign origin. We have not had it in hand long enough to 
master the whole of its contents — but long enough to be satisfied of its happy 
adaptation to the sad times on which we have fallen, and of the richness of the 
treasures it offers to the acceptance of the true friends of Christ. The volume 
before us, though perfectly calm and candid in its discussions, leaves this matter 
plain as sunlight. More formidable foes to Christ and his apostles are not to be 
found amid all the tribes of religious errorists, than those arrayed beneath the 
banners of Popery and High Churchism. It is to be hoped that our brethren in 
the ministry will avail themselves of the labors of Mr. Smyth, to become 
thoroughly acquainted with this imposing form of error, and arm themselves 
with ' panoply divine ' to meet it and confound it, ere it attains the preeminence 
to which it aspires, and which, unresisted, it will inevitably attain.' 

From the Boston Recorder. 

' This is truly an elaborate work. Our attention has been but recently called, 
in a special manner, to its contents, but our highest expectations of the candor 
and ability of the discussion have been more than satisfied. The object of the 
author's animadversion is not episcopacy, as such ; but the arrogant and exclu- 
sive claim of High Churchmen and Romanists to be the only true Church of 
Christ; his only real ministers, an 1 the 'only sources of efficacious ordinances 
and covenanted salvation.' The volume is eminently appropriate to the times, 
and, if read with a sincere desire for the truth, must, we think, prove an imme- 
diate corrective of any tendencies towards the Church of England or of Rome.' 

From the Christian World, by the Rev. Mr. Stockton, of the Protestant 
Methodist Church. 
' The Lectures which have led us to these remarks, are a valuable addition to 
religious literature, and more particularly, the polemical department of it. They 
number twenty-one, and fill a handsome volume of five hundred and fifty pages. 
The chief aim of the author has been to test the prelatical doctrine by Scripture, 



CRITICAL KO TICKS. 



7 



history, and facts — to exhibit its popish, intolerant, unreasonable, and suicidal 
character, and to show that it has been condemned by the best authorities. The 
latter part of the work is devoted to a consideration of Schism, and to a discus- 
sion of the true doctrine of Apostolical Succession The plan covers the whole 
subject — the execution is well managed. It is bold, but temperate — fearless, 
but not reckless — a fine specimen of good tactics in a defensive war. As a text- 
book it is worthy of high commendation, abounding as it does in copious extracts, 
and presenting the views of all our standard authors. It is a focal point where 
many rays have been gathered — we had almost said at the risk of good taste — 
a hive, where many bees had deposited honey. If it be not as eloquent as 
Mason's Essay on this subject, or as cogent and imaginative as Milton's Tracts 
on it, we have no hesitation in preferring it to either, for compass, variety, and 
clear demonstration.' 

From the American Biblical Repository. 

' This well filled octavo volume has come into our hands. Its leading subjects, 
as indicated in the title-page, are of sufficient importance to demand a thorough 
discussion ; and we agree with our author in the belief that the time has come 
when such a discussion is necessary for the proper vindication of the rights and 
duties of the great body of the Protestant ministry and churches, against the 
assumptions of a portion of their own number, who take common ground with 
Romanists in excluding from the pale of communion in the 4 holy, catholic, and 
apostolic church,' all who dissent from their doctrine of ' exclusive apostolic suc- 
cession.' These assumptions are not only found in many of the old and standard 
divines of the Church of England, but have been of late zealously put forth in 
the Oxford ' Tracts for the Times,' have been avowed by English and American 
bishops, and by a great number of the Episcopal clergy of both countries ; and 
the assurance with which they are urged in many recent publications, calls for a 
patient and thorough examination of the arguments advanced in their support. 
Such is the work undertaken by our author. The topics of the twenty-one Lec- 
tures comprised in this volume, are as follows, etc. These subjects are discussed 
with great earnestness and strength ; and the ample and numerous authorities by 
which his statements and reasonings are confirmed, show that the author has 
spared no labor, and dispensed with no available aid, in his investigations. As 
far as we have examined them, they appear to us thorough and satisfactory, and 
we cordially commend the work to the diligent study of our readers.' 

From the Rev. Samuel H. Cox, D. D. Extract from a Letter. 

1 Rev. and Dear Sir : — Though personally unknown to you, yet have I been 
so pleased with your Lectures on the Apostolical Succession, that I thought it 
but fair to tell you of it. ... I believe you are doing a protestant and a christian 
work ; and while I regret some incidental differences of another kind between 
us, I am happy to assure you of my God-speed, and of my prayers for a blessing 
on your labors.' 

From the Rev. Dr. Lamson. 

Dr. Lamson in his Lecture on the Uses of Ecclesiastical History, ( Christian 
Examiner, Sept. 1842, p. 12,) in alluding to the claims of prelacy, and the doc- 
trine of Apostolical Succession, says : 1 It has been found necessary to take the 
field, and already a goodly sized octavo, manifesting no little industry and 
research, has appeared, printed in this city, though written by a Presbyterian of 
the South, in refutation of these, as we are accustomed to consider, perfectly 
absurd and obsolete claims.' 

From the Protestant and Herald. 

After speaking of the author's Ecclesiastical Catechism, a writer in this paper 
6ays : ' He had before prepared us for such a treat, by favoring the Protestant 
Church with a profound, learned, and eloquent argument on ' the Apostolic Suc- 
cession,' utterly refuting the exclusive and inflated claims of all High Churchmen, 
or ' china men, 1 as they have been appropriately styled in the Biblical Repertory. 



8 



CRITICAL NOTICES. 



Of this production of his, I have the means of knowing, that the venerable cham- 
pion in the cause, has privately declared ' that Mr. Smyth has quoted books in the 
controversy, which he had never had the privilege of seeing, and which were 
even rare in Europe.' ' 

From the Honorable Mitchell King, of Charleston, S. 0. 

' Rev. and Dear Sir : — You have done a lasting service to the Presbyterian 
Church, by the publication of your work on the Prelatical Doctrine of the Apos- 
tolical Succession. The question which you there discuss has assumed in our 
times a renewed importance, from the efforts recently made to claim for particu- 
lar bodies of Christians an exclusive right to the benefits of that covenant of 
grace, which Christ came to make with all true believers. This question was, 
as you and I believe, long ago settled by the thorough investigations and conclu- 
sive arguments of men worthy, if mortal men can be worthy, of the great cause 
in which they were engaged ; who were influenced solely by the love of truth, 
and followed that, wherever it might lead them, without regard to merely human 
authority ; and many of whom sealed their testimony with their blood. These 
times have passed away. But earnest endeavors have been lately made, to 
shake the confidence of many Christians in the principles of their fathers, and to 
overthrow their faith in that Church which we believe to be founded on the 
words of everlasting life. Your work, therefore, I consider as most seasonable 
and valuable, as reviving and spreading the knowledge of the fundamental truths 
on which our Church rests. It contains a fuller review of the reasonings and 
authorities on this subject, than any other work with which I am acquainted, and 
will, I am persuaded, henceforth be an armory in which the defenders of Presby- 
terianism can find weapons of proof ready prepared for them. That you may go 
forward in the course which you have so honorably begun, and that the Great 
Head of the Church may follow your labors with his rich blessing, is the earnest 
prayer of, Rev'd and Dear Sir, yours very truly, M. KING. 

From the Rev. John Bachman, D. D., of the German Lutheran Church, 
Charleston, S. C. 

' My Dear Sir: — To my mind your Lectures on the Apostolical Succession 
covers the whole ground, and is, without exception, the most triumphant vindica- 
tion of our views on this subject, that I have ever read. I regard the work as 
the most valuable contribution that has ever been made to the Southern Church.' 



AN 

ECCLESIASTICAL CATECHISM 

OF THE 

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 

For the use of Bible Classes, Families, and Private Members. 

THIRD EDITION, MUCH IMPROVED. 

J7iis work has been submitted to the revision of the Rev. Samuel Miller, d. d. 
and many others f and is now published, as approved by them, and with their 
emendations. 



CRITICAL. NOTICES. 

Overture adopted by the Synod of S. Carolina and Geo. at its session in 1841. 

That the publication of works intended to advocate the distinctive order and 
polity of our Church should be encouraged, and their eirClsiation among our 
people rendered as general as possible ; and it having come to the knowledge of 
this Synod, that one of their number, the Rev. Thomas Smyth, of Charleston, has 
recently given to the Church, among other valuable publications, 'An Ecclesias- 
tical Catechism of the Presbyterian Church, for the use of Families, Bible 
Classes, and Private Members,' — and a series of Lectures on ' The Prelalical 
Doctrine of Apostolical Succession Examined, and the Protestant Ministry 
Defended against the Asumptions of Popery and High Churchism.' Therefore, 
Resolved, That the Synod of South Carolina and Georgia regard with pleasure 
and approbation these publications, as containing an able defence of the divine 
authority of the Protestant Ministry, and a full and satisfactory exposition of the 
order and government of our Church ; and as demanded by the present state of 
the controversy on these subjects. And the Synod does, therefore, cordially 
recommend the said publications to all our Ministers. Elders, and private mem- 
bers, as works of high value, and calculated to advance the intelligence of our 
Church, on our distinctive peculiarities and doctrines. 

From the Biblical Repertory, for January, 1841. 

' Mr. Smyth must be regarded as among the most efficient and active authors 
in the Presbyterian Church. His valuable work on the 'Apostolical Succession,' 
reviewed in a preceding part of this number, is a monument of his reading and 
industry, which has been extensively acknowledged. The ' Ecclesiastical Cat- 
echism ' before us, is another present to the Church with which Mr. Smyth is 
connected, which we think adapted to be universally esteemed, and highly useful. 
It is, as all such manuals ought to be, brief, comprehensive, simple, adapted to 
weak capacities, and yet sufficiently instructive to gratify the most intelligent 
minds. The Scriptural quotations to illustrate and establish the principles he 
lays down, are perhaps, in some cases, unnecessarily numerous, and in a few 
instances, of questionable application. But it is on the whole so well executed, 
and possesses so much solid merit, that we hope it may be extensively circulated 
and used.' 



2 



CRITICAL NOTICES. 



From the Rev. G eo. Howe, D. D. , Professor in the Theological Seminary of the 
Synod of South Carolina and Georgia. 

' The design and the execution are excellent. It contains a more complete 
explanation of the order and government of our Church, than I have ever before 
seen in so small a compass- I think it admirably adapted to the purposes for 
which it was designed, and could wish to see it in every Presbyterian family, 
and studied by all our young people, as an appendix to the doctrinal catechisms.' 

From The Presbyterian. 

' We have received a neat and well-printed little volume of one hundred and 
twenty-four pages, entitled 'An Ecclesiastical Catechism of the Presbyterian 
Church, for the use of Families, Bible Classes, and Private Members:' by Rev. 
Thomas Smyth, Pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church, Charleston, S. C, 
into which the author has compressed a large amount of very valuable matter, 
explanatory and illustrative of Church order, and which we regard as particularly 
serviceable at the present time, as supplying a desideratum in the education of 
Presbyterian youth. Although the author modestly remarks, that his Catechism 
is an attempt rather than an actual accomplishment of all that he believes to be 
demanded by the necessities of the Church, yet from the attention we have been 
able to bestow on it, we should regard the execution of the attempt as highly 
creditable, and we believe the book to be deserving of an immediate adoption in 
the instruction of the youth of our Church.' 

From the Christian Intelligencer, of the Reformed Dutch Church, N. Y. 

' The members of the Presbyterian Church should possess a full and satisfactory 
acquaintance with the principles of Presbyterian government, polity, and worship. 
This little volume is exceedingly well adapted to aid in gaining this acquaint- 
ance, and is suited for general and popular use. While industrious efforts are 
employed by other denominations in opposition to these principles, it is highly 
important and. desirable that a popular manual, in elucidation and vindication of 
their creeds, as is provided in this volume, should be circulated. The following 
are the subjects of the chapters, each of which contains several sections, or sub- 
divisions — I. The Church. II. Governments of the Church. III. Officers of 
the Church. IV. Courts of the Church. V. Power of the Church. VI. Fellow- 
ship of the Church. VII. Relation of the Presbyterian Church to other denomi- 
nations. The catechetical form of the work, and the copious scripture-references 
and authorities, adapt it to the use of instruction. Such a volume as this was 
needed ; and we feel indebted to Mr. Smyth for the preparation of it, as we deem 
it, in matter and manner, meeting the desideratum required.' 

From the Charleston Observer. 

'Of the first edition of this work we spoke in terms of commendation. But 
this is a very considerable improvement, not only in the style in which it is gotten 
up — for it is very neatly printed and bound — but in the arrangement and matter. 
It supplies a place that is needed, and yet it is issued merely as an attempt to 
furnish the Church with a brief compend of her worship and polity. As a 
denomination, we have been remiss in ihe duty of letting the principles and polity 
of our Church be generally known. Many of our own members need informa- 
tion on this subject, that they may be established in the truth and order of the 
house of God. And information is needed also by others, to correct the erroneous 
impressions respecting it. which have been designedly or undesignedly made upon 
their minds. The work deserves general circulation.' 

From the New York Observer. 

' The preparation of this little work was the result of a suggestion by Rev. Dr, 
Miller, of Princeton ; and in it the author has presented the peculiar features of 
the form of Government in the Presbyterian Church, in questions and answers, 
and in simple language, that the sentiments inculcated may be readily learned 
and remembered by the young.' 



CRITICAL NOTICES 



3 



From the Protestant and Herald. 

'Mr. Editor: — During the past winter, the Female Bible Class of my pas- 
toral charge, have memorized ' The Ecclesiastical Catechism,' 1 prepared by the Rev. 
Thomas Smyth, of Charleston, South Carolina. I make this statement in your 
columns, in order to excite and secure the attention of your readers to the utility 
and value of that little volume. The ladies have manifested an unusual degree 
of delight and enthusiasm in their recitations. The result has been, if I mistake 
not, ' a full and comprehensive acquaintance with the principles of the worship 
and polity of our Church.' Such was the hope of its worthy and able author in 
the preparation of his book. The proof-texts are generally printed at length in 
the Catechism. Without attempting an analysis of this book, allow me to urge 
Pastors, and Ruling Elders, and Deacons, and Sunday School Teachers in our 
Churches, to procure this interesting and attractive and cheap compend of Church 
order, and indoctrinate their families and pupils into these cherished principles of 
our denomination. Are we not, as a body of people, quite remiss in this high 
duty? Let the standard-bearers in our host, hestir themselves as they ought, to 
circulate this work, as a Presbyterian Sabbath School book, and make it, if you 
please, what it deserves to be, next to our Larger and Shorter Catechism — 
a Presbyterian classic in all our family instructions.' 

From the Magnolia, a Literary Magazine and Monthly Review. 

' This little volume was meant for, and is acknowledged to have supplied a 
want, among the members of the Presbyterian Church. It is a copious compila- 
tion, containing a large amount of religious information, and we take for granted, 
that, among the class of Christians for whose use it was prepared, it is far 
superior to any thing of the sort which had ever been offered them before. It 
shows industry, reading, and analysis.' 

From the American Biblical Repository. 

' This little volume is issued by the same publishers as the preceding work, by 
the same author. It is a well-digested system of questions and answers on the 
Church, its government, — its officers, — its courts, — its powers, — its fellowship, 
and the relation of the Presbyterian Church to other denominations. It is a use- 
ful manual for Presbyterians, and may be instructive to others.' 



ALSO, BY THE SAME AUTHOR, 

SOLACE FOR BEREAVED PARENTS; 

OR, INFANTS DIE TO LIVE. , 

With a Historical Account of the Doctrine of Infant Salvation. 

' The doctrine of the Salvation of Infants is ably defended in this little volume, 
and the sweet consolation of this belief is tendered to parents whom God has 
bereaved. Enemies of Calvinism have delighted to misrepresent its friends on 
this point, and to them we commend the book ; as well as to those who love, with 
Jesus, to say of little children, ' of such is the Kingdom.' ''—New York Observer. 



A FORM FOR THE 

SOLEMNIZATION OF MARRIAGE 

ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



TRACTS ON PRESBYTERIANISM. 1 Vol. 12mo. 



ALSO, BY THE SAME AUTHOR, 
JUST PUBLISHED, 

PRESBYTERY AND NOT PRELACY 

THE SCRIPTURAL AND PRIMITIVE POLITY, 

PROVED FROM THE TESTIMONIES OF SCRIPTURE ; THE FATHERS ; THE SCHOOL- 
MEN J THE REFORMERS j AND THE ENGLISH AND ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 

ALSO, THE ANTIQUITY OF PRESBYTERY; 

INCLUDING AN ACCOUNT OF THE ANCIENT CULDEES, AND OF ST. PATRICK. 



ECCLESIASTICAL REPUBLICANISM ; 

OB THE RSPDBLICANISM, LIBERALITY, AND CATHOLICITY OJ 

PRESBYTERY, 
IN CONTRAST WITH PRELACY AND POPERY. 



PREPARING FOR PUBLICATION, 
AN ABRIDGED EDITION OF THE AUTHOR'S WORK ON 

THE PRELATICAL DOCTRINE 

OF THE 

APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION, 

PREPARED, AT HIS REQUEST, BY THE 

REV. JOSEPH TRACY, 

AUTHOR OF THE GREAT AWAKENING, HISTORY OF THE A. B. 0. 
FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS, &C. 



1 



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